She  stopped  with  her  hand  on  the  banister,  like  Louise  of  Prussia 


.LADIES  MUST  LIVE 


BY 

ALICE  DUER  MILLER 

Author  of  "Come  Out  of  the  Kitchen,"  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 
PAUL  MEYLAN 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO, 

1917 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
THE  CENTURY  Co. 

Copyright,  1917,  by 
INTERNATIONAL  MAGAZINE  Co 

Published,  October,  1917 


LIST  OE  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

She  stopped  with  her  hand  on  the  banister,  like 

Louise  of  Prussia Frontispiece 

And  then,  with  a  clean  towel,  he  deliberately  dried 

her  hands,  finger  by  finger 69 

11  Isn't  that  rather  a  reckless  way  for  a  man  in  your 

situation  to  talk  ?" 91 

"  Well,  heaven  itself  can't  save  a  fool,"  said  Mrs. 

Almar 119 

It  was  arranged  that  he  was  to  bring  Dorothy  to 

dine  with  them  that  evening 147 

He  stood  like  a  rock  under  her  caress     .      .      .      .   173 

"  May  I  ask,  Mr.  Riatt,  what  rights  in  the  matter 

you  consider  that  you  have?  "  Linburne  pursued  199 

"  Max,"  she  said,  "  I  love  you  "......  241 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

CHAPTER  I 

MRS.  USSHER  was  having  a  small  house 
party  in  the  country  over  New  Year's  Day. 
This  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  the  half  dozen 
most  fashionable  people  in  New  York  were  out  of 
town. 

Certain  human  beings  are  admitted  to  have  a 
genius  for  discrimination  in  such  matters  as  objects 
of  art,  pigs  or  stocks.  Mrs.  Ussher  had  this  same 
instinct  in  regard  to  fashion,  especially  where 
fashions  in  people  were  concerned.  She  turned 
toward  hidden  social  availability  very  much  as  the 
douser's  hazel  wand  turns  toward  the  hidden 
spring.  When  she  crossed  the  room  to  speak  to 
some  woman  after  dinner,  whatever  that  woman's 
social  position  might  formerly  have  been,  you  could 
be  sure  that  at  present  she  was  on  the  upward 
wing.  When  Mrs.  Ussher  discovered  extraordi- 
nary qualities  of  mind  and  sympathy  in  some 

*   3 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

hitherto  impossible  man,  you  might  be  certain  it 
was  time  to  begin  to  book  him  in  advance. 

Not  that  Mrs.  Ussher  was  a  kingmaker;  she 
herself  had  no  more  power  over  the  situation  than 
the  barometer  has  over  the  weather.  She  merely 
was  able  to  foretell;  she  had  the  sense  of  approach- 
ing social  success. 

She  was  unaware  of  her  own  powers,  and  really 
supposed  that  her  sudden  and  usually  ephemeral 
friendships  were  based  on  mutual  attraction.  The 
fact  that  for  years  her  friends  had  been  the  small 
group  of  the  momentarily  fashionable  required, 
in  her  eyes,  no  explanation.  So  simple  was  her 
creed  that  she  believed  people  were  fashionable 
for  the  same  reason  that  they  were  her  friends, 
because  "  they  were  so  nice." 

During  the  short  period  of  their  existence,  Mrs. 
Ussher  gave  to  these  friendships  the  utmost  loyalty 
and  devotion.  She  agonized  over  the  financial, 
domestic  and  romantic  troubles  of  her  friends;  she 
sat  up  till  the  small  hours,  talking  to  them  like  a 
schoolgirl;  during  the  height  of  their  careers  she 
organized  plots  for  their  assistance ;  and  even  when 
their  stars  were  plainly  on  the  decline,  she  would 

4 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

often  ask  them  to  lunch,  if  she  happened  to  be 
alone. 

Many  people,  we  know,  are  prone  to  make 
friends  with  the  rich  and  great.  Mrs.  Ussher's 
genius  consisted  in  having  made  friends  with  them 
before  they  were  either.  When  you  hurried  to  her 
with  some  account  of  a  newly  discovered  treasure 
-. — •  a  beauty  or  a  conversable  young  man  —  she 
would  always  say:  "  Oh,  yes,  I  crossed  with  her 
two  years  ago,"  or  "  Isn't  he  a  dear?  —  he  was 
once  in  Jack's  office."  The  strange  thing  was 
these  statements  were  always  true;  the  subjects 
of  them  confessed  with  tears  that  "  dear  Mrs. 
Ussher "  or  "  darling  Laura  "  was  the  kindest 
friend  they  had  ever  had. 

Her  house  party  was  therefore  likely  to  be 
notable. 

First,  there  was  of  course  Mrs.  Almar  —  of 
course  without  her  husband.  There  is  only  one 
thing,  or  perhaps  two,  to  be  said  for  Nancy  Almar 
• — •  that  she  was  very  handsome  and  that  she  was 
not  a  hypocrite,  no  more  than  a  pirate  is  a  hypo- 
crite who  comes  aboard  with  his  cutlass  in  his 
teeth.  Mrs.  Almar's  cutlass  was  always  in  her 

5 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

teeth,    when   it   was   not    in   somebody's   vitals. 

She  had  smooth,  jet-black  hair,  done  close  to  her 
pretty  head,  a  clear  white-and-vermilion  com- 
plexion, and  a  good  figure,  not  too  tall.  She  said 
little,  but  everything  she  did  say,  she  most  poign- 
antly meant.  If,  while  you  were  talking  to  her, 
she  suddenly  cried  out:  "  Ah,  that's  really 
good!  "  there  was  no  doubt  you  had  had  the  good 
fortune  to  amuse  her;  while  if  she  yawned  and  left 
you  in  the  midst  of  a  sentence  there  was  no  ques- 
tion that  she  was  bored. 

She  hated  her  husband  —  not  for  the  conven- 
tional reason  that  she  had  married  him.  She 
hated  him  because  he  was  a  hypocrite,  because  he 
was  always  placating  and  temporizing. 

For  instance,  he  had  said  to  her  as  she  was  about 
to  start  for  the  Usshers' : 

"  I  hope  you  '11  explain  to  them  why  I  could 
not  come." 

There  had  never  been  the  least  question  of  Mr. 
Almar's  coming,  and  she  turned  slowly  and  looked 
at  him  as  she  asked: 

"  You  mean  that  I  would  not  have  gone  if  you 
had?" 

6 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

He  did  not  seem  annoyed. 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  that  I  'm  called  South  on  busi- 


ness." 


"I  shan't  tell  them  that,"  she  said,  slowly 
wrapping  her  furs  about  her  throat;  and  then  fore- 
seeing a  comic  moment,  she  added,  "  but  I  '11  tell 
them  you  say  so,  if  you  like." 

She  was  as  good  as  her  word  —  she  usually 
was. 

When  the  party  was  at  tea  about  the  drawing- 
room  fire,  she  asked  without  the  slightest  change 
of  expression: 

"  Would  any  one  like  to  hear  Roland's  expla- 
nation of  why  he  is  not  with  us?  " 

"  Had  it  anything  to  do  with  his  not  being 
asked?  "  said  a  pale  young  man;  and  as  soon  as 
he  had  spoken,  he  glanced  hastily  round  the  circle 
to  ascertain  how  his  remark  had  succeeded. 

So  far  as  Mrs.  Almar  was  concerned  it  had  not 
succeeded  at  all,  in  fact,  though  he  did  not  know 
it,  nothing  he  said  would  ever  succeed  with  her 
again,  although  a  week  before  she  had  hung  upon 
his  every  word.  He  had  been  a  new  discovery, 
something  unknown  and  Bohemian,  but  alas,  a  day 

7 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

or  two  before,  she  had  observed  that  underlying 
his  socialistic  theories  was  an  aching  desire  for 
social  recognition.  He  liked  to  tell  his  bejeweled 
hostesses  about  his  friends  the  car-drivers ;  but,  oh, 
twenty  times  more,  he  would  have  liked  to  tell  the 
car-drivers  about  his  friends  the  bejeweled  host- 
esses. For  this  reason  Mrs.  Almar  despised  him, 
and  where  she  despised  she  made  no  secret  of  the 
fact. 

"Not  asked,  Mr.  Wickham!"  she  said.  "I 
assume  my  husband  is  asked  wherever  I  am,"  and 
then  turning  to  Laura  Ussher  she  added  with  a 
faint  smile :  "  One's  husband  is  always  asked, 
isn't  he?  " 

"  Certainly,  as  long  as  you  never  allow  him  to 
come,"  said  another  speaker. 

This  was  the  other  great  beauty  of  the  hour  — 
or,  since  she  was  blond  and  some  years  younger 
than  Mrs.  Almar,  perhaps  it  would  be  right  to 
say  that  she  was  the  beauty  of  the  hour. 

She  was  very  tall,  golden,  fresh,  smooth,  yet 
with  faint  hollows  in  her  cheeks  that  kept  her  fresh- 
ness from  being  insipid.  Christine  Fenimer  had 
another  advantage — she  was  unmarried.  In 

8 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

spite  of  the  truth  of  the  observation  that  a  married 
woman's  greatest  charm  is  her  husband,  he  is  also 
in  the  most  practical  sense  a  disadvantage ;  he  does 
sometimes  stand  across  the  road  of  advancement, 
even  in  a  land  of  easy  divorce.  Mrs.  Almar,  for 
instance,  was  regretfully  aware  that  she  might  have 
done  much  better  than  Roland  Almar.  The  great 
stakes  were  really  open  to  the  unmarried. 

She  was  particularly  aware  of  this  fact  at  the 
moment,  for  the  party  was  understood  to  be  await- 
ing a  great  stake.  Mrs.  Ussher  had  discovered 
a  cousin,  a  young  man  who,  soon  after  graduating 
from  a  technical  college,  had  invented  a  process 
in  the  manufacture  of  rubber  that  had  brought  him 
a  fortune  before  he  was  thirty.  He  was  now  en- 
gaged in  spending  it  on  aviation  experiments.  He 
was  reckless  and  successful.  Besides  which  he  was 
understood  to  be  personally  attractive  —  his  pic- 
ture in  a  silver  frame  stood  on  a  neighboring  table. 
He  was  of  the  lean-  type  that  Mrs.  Almar  ad- 
mired. 

Now  it  was  perfectly  clear  to  her  why  he  was 
asked.  Mrs.  Ussher  adored  Christine  Fenimer. 
Of  all  girls  in  the  world  it  was  essential  that 

9 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Christine  should  marry  money.  This  man,  Max 
Riatt,  new  to  the  fashionable  world,  ought  to  be 
comparatively  easy  game.  The  thing  ought  to  go 
on  wheels.  But  Mrs.  Almar  herself  was  not  in- 
different to  six  feet  of  splendid  masculinity;  nor 
without  her  own  uses  at  the  moment  for  a  good- 
looking  young  man. 

In  other  words,  there  was  going  to  be  a  contest; 
in  the  full  sight  of  the  little  public  that  really  mat- 
tered, the  lists  were  set.  Nobody  present,  except 
perhaps  Wickham,  who  was  dangerously  ignorant 
of  the  world  in  which  he  was  moving,  doubted 
for  one  moment  that  Miss  Fenimer  had  resolved 
to  marry  Max  Riatt,  if,  that  is,  he  turned  out  to 
be  actually  as  per  the  recommendations  of  Mrs. 
Ussher;  nor  was  it  less  certain  that  Mrs.  Almar 
intended  that  he  should  be  hers. 

Of  course  if  Mrs.  Ussher  had  been  absolutely 
single-minded,  she  would  not  have  invited  Mrs. 
Almar  to  this  party;  but  though  a  warm  friend  to 
Christine  Fenimer,  Laura  was  not  a  fanatic,  and 
the  piratical  Nancy  was  her  friend,  too. 

Mrs.  Almar  could  have  pleaded  an  additional 
reason  for  her  wish  to  interfere  with  this  match, 

10 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

besides  the  natural  one  of  not  wishing  Miss  Feni- 
mer  to  attain  any  success;  and  that  was  the  fact 
that  Edward  Hickson,  her  brother,  had  wanted 
for  several  years  to  marry  Christine.  Hickson 
was  a  dull,  kindly,  fairly  well-to-do  young  man  — 
exactly  the  type  you  would  like  to  see  your  rival 
marry.  Hickson  had  motored  out  with  his  sister, 
and  had  received  some  excellent  counsel  on  thef 
way. 

"  Now,  Ned,"  she  had  said,  "  don't  cut  your  own 
throat  by  being  an  adoring  foil.  Don't  let  Chris- 
tine grind  your  face  in  the  dust,  just  to  show  this 
new  man  that  she  can  do  it." 

"  You  don't  do  Christine  justice,"  he  had 
answered,  "  if  you  think  she  would  do  that." 

His  sister  did  not  reply.  She  thought  it  would 
have  been  doing  the  girl  injustice  to  suppose' that 
she  would  do  anything  else. 

They  were  still  sitting  about  the  tea-table  at  a 
quarter  to  seven,  when  Christine  and  Mrs.  Almar 
rose  simultaneously.  It  was  almost  time  for  the 
arrival  of  Riatt,  and  neither  had  any  fancy  for 
meeting  him  save  at  her  best  —  in  all  the  panoply 
of  evening  dress. 

ii 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  We  're  not  dining  till  a  quarter  past  eight,  my 
dears,"  said  Mrs.  Ussher. 

Both  ladies  thought  they  would  lie  down  before 
dinner.  And  here  chance  took  a  hand.  Riatt's 
train  was  late,  whereas  Christine's  clock  was  fast. 
And  so  it  happened  that  she  came  downstairs  just 
as  he  was  coming  up. 

There  had  been  no  one  to  greet  him.  He  was 
told  by  the  butler  that  Mrs.  Ussher  was  dressing, 
that  dinner  would  be  in  fifteen  minutes;  he 
started  to  bound  up  the  stairs,  following  the  foot- 
man with  his  bags,  when  suddenly  looking  up  the 
broad  flight  he  saw  a  blond  vision  in  white  and 
pearls  coming  slowly  down.  He  hoped  that  his 
lower  jaw  had  n't  fallen,  but  she  really  was  ex- 
traordinarily beautiful;  and  he  could  not  help 
slowing  down  a  little.  She  stopped,  with  her 
hand  on  the  banisters,  like  Louise  of  Prussia. 

"  Oh,  you  're  Mr.  Riatt,"  she  said,  very  gently. 
"  You  know  you  're  most  awfully  late." 

u  I  wish,"  he  said,  "  that  I  were  wise  enough  to 
be  able  to  say:  *  Oh,  you  're  Miss '  " 

"  I  might  be  a  Mrs." 

"  .Oh,  I  hope  not,"  he  answered.  "  Are  you?  " 
12 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

She  smiled. 

"  You  '11  know  as  soon  as  you  come  down  to 
dinner." 

"  I  shall  be  quick  about  dressing." 

He  went  on  up,  and  she  pursued  her  slow  prog- 
ress down.  She  felt  that  her  future  had  been 
settled  by  those  few  seconds  on  the  stairs. 

"  He  will  do  admirably,"  she  said  to  herself, 
and  a  smile  like  that  of  a  sleeping  infant  curved 
her  lips.  She  felt  calmly  triumphant.  She  had 
always  said  there  was  no  reason  why  even  a  rich 
man  should  be  absolutely  impossible.  She  re- 
called certain  great  fortunes  with  repulsive  own- 
ers, which  some  of  her  friends  had  accepted.  For 
herself  she  had  always  intended  to  have  every- 
thing —  love  and  money,  too.  And  here  it  was, 
almost  in  her  hands.  There  had  been  moments 
when  she  had  been  so  discouraged  that  she  had 
actually  made  up  her  mind  to  marry  Ned  Hick- 
son.  How  wise  she  had  been  to  hold  off ! 

She  leant  her  arm  on  the  mantelpiece  and 
studied  herself  in  the  mirror.  It  was  a  Chinese 
painted  mirror,  and  the  tint  of  the  glass  was 
green  and  unbecoming,  yet  even  this  could  not 

13 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

mar  the  dazzling  reflection.  The  only  object  on 
which  she  looked  with  dissatisfaction  was  her 
string  of  pearls;  they  were  imitation.  She 
thought  she  would  have  emeralds;  and  she  heard 
clearly  in  her  own  inner  ear  this  sentence: 
"Yes,  that  is  young  Mrs.  Max  Riatt;  is  she  not 
very  beautiful  in  her  emeralds !  " 

Fortunately  she  did  not  say  it  aloud,  for  Mrs. 
Ussher  came  down  at  this  moment,  and  soon  Hick- 
son,  and  then  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time 
Riatt  himself. 

Undoubtedly  he  would  do  magnificently.  He 
stood  the  test  even  of  evening  clothes,  though 
Christine  fancied  as  she  studied  him  that  she 
would  alter  his  style  of  collars.  They  would  be 
better  higher.  Mrs.  Ussher  brought  him  over  at 
once  and  introduced  him. 

"This  is  my  cousin  Max,  Christine,  about 
whom  I  Ve  talked  so  much.  Max,  this  is  Miss 
Fenimer." 

They  smiled  at  each  other  with  a  common  im- 
pulse not  to  confess  that  earlier  meeting  on  the 
stairs ;  and  he  was  just  about  to  settle  down  beside 
her,  when  the  door  opened  and,  last  of  all,  Mrs. 

14 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Almar  came  in.  She  was  wearing  her  flame- 
color  and  lilac  dress.  Christine  knew  she  would 
have  it  on;  knew  that  she  saved  it  for  the  greatest 
moments.  She  did  not  advance  very  far  into  the 
room,  but  stood  looking  around  her. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  "  where  is  Cousin  Max?  " 

It  must  not  be  supposed  from  this  question  that 
she  had  not  seen  him  almost  through  the  crack 
of  the  door  as  the  butler  opened  it  for  her;  but 
by  speaking  just  when  and  where  she  did,  she 
forced  him  to  get  up  from  Christine's  side,  and 
come  to  where  she  was  to  be  introduced  to  her. 
Then  as  dinner  was  at  the  same  instant  an- 
nounced, she  put  her  hand  on  his  arm. 

"  Take  me  in  to  dinner,  Cousin  Max,"  she  said. 

"  I  did  not  know  he  was  your  cousin,"  said 
Wickham,  who  suffered  from  the  fatal  tendency 
in  moments  of  doubt  to  say  something. 

Mrs.  Almar  looked  at  Riatt. 

"Will  you  be  a  cousin  to  me?"  she  asked. 
"  It  commits  you  to  nothing." 

"  I  don't  consider  that  an  advantage,"  he  re- 
turned, drawing  his  elbow  slightly  inward,  so  that 
her  hand,  if  not  actually  pressed,  was  made  to 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

feel   secure  upon  his   arm.      '*  There   are   some 
things  I  would  n't  a  bit  mind  being  committed  to." 

Mrs.  Almar  moved  her  black  head  from  side 
to  side. 

"  You  must  be  more  specific,"  she  said,  u  or  I 
sha'n't  understand  you." 

"  More  specific  in  words?  "  he  inquired  gently. 
They  were  crossing  the  hall,  and  had  a  sort  of 
privacy  for  an  instant. 

"  Dear  me,"  she  returned,  "  you  do  move  rather 
rapidly,  don't  you?" 

"  I  'm  an  aviator,  you  see,"  he  answered. 

Across  the  table  Christine  was  trying  to  be 
gracious  and  graceful  while  she  put  up  with  Hick- 
son,  but  she  was  feeling  as  any  honest  captain  feels 
at  having  a  prize  cut  out  from  under  his  very 
nose. 

Mrs.  Ussher  seeing  this,  decided  that  such 
methods  as  Nancy's  ought  not  to  prevail;  she 
seated  herself  on  Max's  other  side,  and  instantly 
engaged  in  conversation. 

"  Don't  you  think  my  dear  little  Christine  is  an 
angel?"  she  said,  without  any  encumbering  sub- 
tility. 

16 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  She  certainly  looks  like  one." 

"Who  looks  like  what?"  asked  Mrs.  Almar, 
from  his  other  side.  She  had  had  this  sort 
of  thing  tried  too  often  not  to  be  on  her 
guard. 

Mrs.  Ussher  leant  forward. 

"  Max  was  just  saying  that  Christine  looks  like 
an  angel." 

Nancy  looked  at  him  and  made  a  very  slight 
grimace. 

u  Are  you  so  awfully  strong  for  angels?"  she 
said.  He  laughed. 

"  I  never  met  one  before." 

"  You  have  n't  met  one  to-night." 

"  You  mean  that  you  're  not  an  angel,  Mrs. 
Almar?" 

"I?  Oh,  I'm  well  and  favorably  known  as 
the  wickedest  woman  in  New  York.  I  meant  that 
Miss  Fenimer  is  not  an  angel." 

"  You  don't  like  her?" 

"  How  you  jump  at  conclusions !     To  say  she 
is  n't  an  angel,  does  n't  mean  dislike.     As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  I  am  eager  to  secure  her  as  my  sister-  , 
in-law." 

17 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Riatt  glanced  at  Hickson  and  was  aware  of 
the  faintest  possible  pang.  What  qualities,  he 
wondered,  had  a  man  like  that. 

"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  is  she  engaged  to  your 
brother  ?" 

"  Certainly  not,"  answered  Mrs.  Almar. 
"  But  it  is  fairly  well  understood  by  every  one 
except  my  brother,  that  if  she  does  n't  find  any- 
thing better  within  the  next  few  years  she  will 
put  up  with  him." 

At  this  a  slight  feeling  of  disgust  for  both' ladies 
took  possession  of  Riatt. 

"  I  see,"  he  said  rather  coldly,  and  turned  to 
Mrs.  Ussher,  but  Nancy  was  not  so  easily  disposed 
of. 

"  You  mean,"  she  went  on,  "  that  you  see  it  is 
my  duty  as  a  sister  to  prevent  anything  else  turn- 
ing up.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  a  handsome, 
rich,  attractive  young  man  should  suddenly  appear 
upon  the  scene  and  show  an  interest  in  the  angelic 
Christine."  (By  this  time  Riatt  had  turned  again 
to  her,  and  she  looked  straight  into  his  eyes  as 
she  ran  through  her  list  of  adjectives.)  "  Don't 
you  think  it  would  be  my  duty  to  distract  his  atten- 

18; 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

tion  —  to  go  almost  any  length  to  distract  his. 
attention?" 

"  However  personally  disagreeable  to  you  the 
process  might  be?" 

"  Probably  if  he  were  as  I  described  him,  the 
process  would  not  be  so  disagreeable." 

He  smiled.  There  was  no  denying  he  found 
her  amusing. 

In  the  meantime,  the  couple  across  the  table 
had  reached  a  somewhat  similar  point. 

Hickson  had  said  as  they  sat  down: 

"Well,  and  what  do  you  think  of  this  new 
fellow?" 

Christine's  natural  irritation  appeared  in  her 
answer. 

"  I  have  hardly  had  an  opportunity  of  judging," 
she  answered,  "  but,  watching  your  sister's  atten- 
tions to  him,  I  would  say  he  must  be  extremely 
attractive." 

Hickson  looked  a  little  dashed. 

"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  Nancy  does  not  mean  any- 
thing when  she  goes  on  like  that." 

The  only  effect  of  this  speech  was  to  depress 
further  Miss  Fenimer's  estimate  of  her  compan- 

19 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

ion's  intelligence,  for  in  her  opinion  Nancy's  whole 
life  was  one  long  black  intention.  Feeling  this, 
Ned  went  on: 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  one  reason  why  she  's  so 
nice  to  him  is  to  keep  him  away  from  you  and  give 
me  a  chance." 

"  Not  very  flattering  to  you,  is  it?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean?  " 

"  The  assumption  that  the  only  way  to  make 
a  woman  take  an  interest  in  you  is  to  prevent  her 
speaking  to  any  other  man." 

"Oh,  I  didn't  mean  that — •"  Hickson  began, 
but  she  interrupted  him. 

"  That,  if  anything,  Ned."  And  she  turned  to 
Wickham,  who  sat  on  her  other  side. 

Wickham  was  waiting  for  a  little  notice  and 
began  instantly. 

"  I  have  been  taking  the  liberty  of  looking  at 
your  pearls,  Miss  Fenimer,  and  indulging  in  such 
an  interesting  speculation.  Here  on  the  one  hand, 
you  are  wearing  round  your  throat  the  equivalent 
of  life,  health  and  virtue  for  half  a  hundred  work- 
ing girls,  as  young,  as  human,  as  yourself.  Are 

20 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

we  to  say  this  is  wrong?  Are  we  to  say  that 
beautiful  jewels  worn  by  beautiful  women  are  a 
crime  against  society — •" 

"  One  moment,  Mr.  Wickham,"  she  said. 
"  My  pearls  are  imitation  and  cost  eight  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  without  the  clasp.  But,"  she 
added  cruelly,  seeing  his  face  fall,  "  you  can  say 
that  same  thing  to  your  friend  Mrs.  Almar,  be- 
cause hers  are  not  artificial,  though  I  have  heard 
her  assert  sometimes  that  they  are,"  and  turning 
back  to  Hickson,  who  was  laboriously  trying  to 
carry  on  a  conversation  with  his  host,  she  inter- 
rupted ruthlessly  to  say,  hardly  lowering  her 
voice : 

;'  Why  in  the  world,  Ned,  did  Nancy  bring  this 
Wickham  man  here  ?  He  's  perfectly  impossi- 
ble." 

"  Nancy  did  n't  bring  him,"  answered  her 
brother  innocently.  "  I  motored  out  with  her 
myself." 

"  She  said  she  would  n't  come  unless  he  were 
asked.  Still  I  know  the  answer.  Nancy  has  al- 
ways had  a  weakness  for  blond  boys,  and  last 

21 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

week  she  was  crazy  about  this  one.  Now  she 
has  turned  against  him,  she  wants  to  foist  him 
off  on  us,  but  I  for  one  don't  intend  to  help  her 
out—" 

By  this  time  Wickham,  aware  that  he  had  been 
rebuffed,  had  found  an  explanation  for  it.  The 
girl  was  annoyed  at  having  been  forced  to  admit 
her  pearls  were  imitation.  He  decided  to  put 
everything  right. 

"  Miss  Fenimer,"  he  said,  and  she  turned  her 
head  perhaps  half  an  inch  in  his  direction,  "  I 
think  you  misunderstood  me  just  now.  My  stand- 
ards are  probably  different  from  those  of  the 
men  you  are  accustomed  to.  To  me  the  fact  that 
your  pearls  are  not  real  is  an  added  beauty.  I  'm 
glad  they're  not — " 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Christine,  "  but  I  'm  not." 
And  this  time  he  understood  that  he  had  lost  her 
for  good. 

After  dinner,  Mrs.  Almar,  knowing  that  her 
innings  were  over,  very  effectively  prevented 
Christine  having  hers,  by  insisting  on  playing 
bridge.  She  had  an  excellent  head  for  cards,  and 
always  needed  money.  Christine  allowed  herself 

22 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

to  be  drawn  in,  supposing  that  Riatt  would  be  one 
of  the  players,  and  found  herself  seated  opposite 
to  Hickson  and  next  to  Jack  Ussher. 

Wickham,  feeling  very  much  left  out  and  de- 
sirous of  showing  how  well  accustomed  he  was  to 
the  casual  manners  of  polite  society,  consoled  him- 
self with  an  evening  paper.  Laura  Ussher  led 
Riatt  to  a  comfortable  corner  out  of  earshot  of 
the  bridge-table. 

"  Now  do  tell  me,  Max,"  she  said,  "  what 
you  think  of  them  all." 

"  I  think,  my  dear  Laura,"  he  answered,  "  that 
they  are  a  very  playful  band  of  cut-throats,  and 
next  time  you  ask  me  to  stay,  I  hope  you  and 
Jack  will  be  entirely  alone." 

The  servants  in  a  household  like  the  Usshe 
were  subjected  to  almost  every  strain,  except  th 
of  early  rising.     No  one  dreamed  of  coming  do 
stairs  before  eleven,  and  most  people  not  ur.t 
lunch  time. 

The  next  morning  Riatt  was  among  the  first 

• '    ?j  T- 

that  is  to  say  he  was  up  earty  enough  not  to  be 
able  to  escape  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  place 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

under  the  guidance  of  his  host.  He  had  seen  the 
stables  and  the  new  garage,  and  the  sheet  of  snow 
beneath  which  lay  the  garden,  and  the  other  totally 
different  sheet  of  snow  beneath  which  was  the  soil 
in  which  Ussher  intended  next  summer  to  plant 
a  rose  garden.  He  had  gone  over,  tree  by  tree, 
the  plantation  of  firs,  and  had  noted  how  the  tips 
of  some  were  injured,  and  had  given  his  opinion 
as  to  whether  or  not  it  were  likely  that  deer  had 
stolen  down  from  the  wild  country  near  at  hand 
and  nibbled  the  young  firs  in  the  night. 

"  It 's  perfectly  possible,"  said  Ussher.  "  I 
have  five  hundred  acres  myself,  and  then  the  Club 
owns  a  huge  tract,  and  then  there  's  some  state 
land.  You  see  we  have  hardly  any  neighbors 
except  the  Fenimers  and  they  're  eight  or  nine 
miles  away.'* 

"They  live  here?" 

"  In  summer  —  and  then  only  when  Fred  Feni- 
mer  is  in  funds,  and  that 's  not  often.  A  precari- 
ous sort  of  existence,  his  —  gambling  in  mining 
stocks,  almost  always  in  wrong.  Hard  on  the 
daughter  —  wish  some  nice  fellow  would  come 
along  and  marry  her." 

24 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  He  probably  will,"  answered  Riatt  rather 
coldly.  "  It 's  beginning  to  snow  again." 

Ussher  had  just  had  his  pond  swept  so  that  his 
guests  could  skate,  and  now  could  n't  imagine  what 
he  should  provide  for  them  for  the  afternoon,  so 
that  his  thoughts  were  instantly  and  completely 
turned  from  Christine's  problems  to  his  own. 

At  the  house  they  found  every  one  waiting  for 
lunch;  Mrs.  Almar  and  Christine  chattering  to- 
gether on  a  window-seat  as  if  they  were  the  most 
intimate  allies;  Hickson  reading  his  fourth  morn- 
ing paper,  and  Mrs.  Ussher  paying  the  profound- 
est  attention  to  something  Wickham  was  saying. 
She  had  suddenly  wakened  to  the  fact  that  he 
was  having  a  wretched  time  and  that  he  was  after 
all  her  guest.  But  he  interpreted  her  actions  dif- 
ferently, and  supposing  that  he  was  at  last  being 
appreciated,  he  had  launched  fearlessly  forth  upon 
the  conversational  sea.  It  was  this  spectacle  that 
had  drawn  Christine  and  Nancy  together,  in  their 
whisperings  and  giggles  in  the  window. 

'  This  perhaps  will  illustrate  my  meaning,"  he 
was  saying  rather  loudly:  "this  is  the  difference 
in  our  outlook  on  life.  If  you  say  '  she  dresses 

«* 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

well,'  you  intend  a  compliment,  but  to  me  it  is 
just  the  reverse.  The  idea  is  repellent  to  me  that 
a  woman  wastes  time,  thought,  money  on  her 
vanity,  on  decking  her  body — " 

"  One  on  you,  my  dear,"  whispered  Chris- 
tine. 

"Isn't  he  tiresome?"  answered  Nancy,  shut- 
ting her  eyes. 

"  I  thought  he  was  your  selection." 

"  Nobody 's  infallible,  my  dear.  Besides,  I 
telegraphed  him  not  to  accept  the  invitation,  but 
he  says  he  never  got  my  message." 

"  Why  does  he  think  you  sent  it?  " 

"  Because  I  could  n't  trust  myself  — " 

They  grinned  at  each  other. 

With  the  entrance  of  Riatt  and  Ussher  they 
went  in  to  lunch,  and  there  maneuvering  for 
places  for  the  afternoon  immediately  began. 

Hickson  supposed  that  by  starting  early  he  could 
secure  Christine's  company.  So  he  at  once  asked 
her  what  she  was  going  to  do,  and  before  she  had 
time  to  answer  he  had  suggested  that  she  skate, 
take  a  walk,  or  go  sleighing  with  him.  Ussher 
explained  that  the  skating  was  spoiled,  and  Chris- 

26 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

tine  under  cover  of  this  diversion  managed  to 
avoid  committing  herself. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  her  afternoon  was  arranged. 
She  had  told  Laura  Ussher  a  pathetic  story  of 
having  to  go  over  to  her  father's  house,  and  look 
up  an  old  fur  coat  of  his  which  had  been  left 
behind  when  the  house  was  shut  for  the  winter. 
Mr.  Fenimer  was  known  to  be  rather  an  irritable 
parent  where  questions  of  his  own  comfort  were 
concerned;  it  was  not  impossible  that  he  would 
make  himself  disagreeable  if  his  orders  were  not 
carried  out.  Laura  did  not  inquire  very  closely, 
but  she  agreed  that  the  best  way  for  Christine 
to  traverse  the  distance  would  be  for  Riatt  to 
drive  her  over  in  the  cutter.  Riatt  sat  next  to 
Laura  at  luncheon,  and  she  put  it  to  him,  when 
the  general  conversation  was  loudest. 

"  Would  you  mind  awfully  driving  poor  little 
Christine  over  to  her  own  place  to  get  something 
or  other  for  that  horrid  father  of  hers?  " 

Of  course  Riatt  didn't  say  he  did  mind;  as  a 
matter  of  fact  he  did  n't.  He  might  even  have 
enjoyed  the  prospect,  if  it  had  n't  been  for  the 
slight  hint  of  compulsion  about  it. 

27 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  It  *s  snowing,  you  know,"  he  said. 

"  It  does  n't  amount  to  anything,"  answered  his 
cousin.  "  But  surely,  Max,  you  're  not  afraid  of 
a  little  snow,  if  she  is  n'tl  " 

"  Anything  to  oblige  you,  Laura,"  he  said. 

She  did  not  quite  like  his  tone,  but  felt  she  might 
safely  leave  the  rest  to  Christine. 

Mrs.  Almar,  unaware  of  these  plots,  settled 
down  as  soon  as  the  meal  was  over,  on  a  com- 
fortable sofa  large  enough  for  two,  with  a  box 
of  cigarettes  at  her  side  and  a  current  magazine 
that  contained  a  new  article  on  flying.  The  bird- 
like  objects  in  the  huge  page  of  cloudy  sky  at  once 
caught  Max's  eye.  He  came  and  bent  over  it 
and  her,  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets.  Still  ab- 
sorbed in  it,  she  half-unconsciously  swept  aside 
her  skirts,  and  he  sat  down  beside  her.  She  mur- 
mured a  question  —  it  was  only  about  planes,  and 
he  answered  it.  Their  heads  were  close  together 
when  Christine  came  down  in  her  dark  furs  ready 
to  go.  The  bells  of  Jack  Ussher's  fastest  trotter 
were  already  to  be  heard  tinkling  at  the  door. 

"Are  you  ready,  Max?"  said  Laura,  rather 
sharply. 

28 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"Laura  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty," 
murmured  Nancy,  without  looking  up. 

Riatt  expressed  himself  as  entirely  ready. 
Ussher  lent  him  a  fur  cap  and  heavy  gloves, 
warned  him  about  the  charmingly  uncertain  char- 
acter of  the  horse;  he  and  Christine  were  tucked 
into  the  sleigh,  and  they  were  off. 

The  snow,  as  Laura  had  said,  did  not  seem  to 
amount  to  much,  the  wind  was  behind  them,  the 
horse  fast,  the  roads  well  packed.  Riatt  glanced 
down  at  his  lovely  companion,  and  felt  his  spirits 
rising.  He  smiled  at  her  and  she  smiled  back. 

"  I  do  hope  you  really  feel  like  that,"  she  said, 
"  not  sorry,  I  mean,  to  go  on  this  expedition.  Be- 
cause it  was  extremely  wicked  of  me  to  forget  my 
father's  coat,  and  this  was  obviously  the  occasion 
to  make  amends,  but  there  was  no  one  to  take 
me—" 

"  No  one  to  take  you?  " 

"  Oh,  I  suppose  one  of  the  grooms  might  have 
driven  me  over,  but  I  should  have  hated  that. 
There  was  no  one  else.  Jack  is  much  too  selfish, 
and  I  wouldn't  have  gone  with  that  Wickham 
person  for  anything  in  the  world,  even  if  he  had 

29 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

ever  driven  a  sleigh,  which  I  am  sure  he  has  n't." 

"  And  how  about  Mr.  Hickson?  "  Riatt  asked. 
"  Was  n't  he  a  possibility?  " 

"  What  has  Nancy  Almar  told  you  about  her 
brother  and  me?  " 

"  Nothing  but  what  he  told  me  himself  in  every 
look  and  word  —  that  he  loves  you." 

Christine  sighed. 

He  smiled  at  her. 

"  And  you  're  glad  of  it,"  he  said. 

"  You  mean  I  care  for  him?  " 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  that,  but  you  're 
glad  he  cares  for  you." 

"  You  're  utterly  mistaken." 

"  How  would  you  feel  if  another  woman  came 
and  took  him  away  from  you  to-morrow?  " 

"Took  him  away  from  me?"  cried  Christine, 
in  a  tone  of  surprise  that  made  Riatt  laugh  aloud. 

"  That 's  the  wonderful  thing  about  the  so-called 
weaker  sex,"  he  said.  "  Saying  *  no  '  seems  to 
have  no  terrors  to  them  at  all.  The  timidest  girl 
will  refuse  a  man  with  no  more  trouble  and  anxiety 
than  she  would  expend  on  refusing  a  dinner  invita- 
tion; whereas  men,  with  all  their  vaunted  courage, 

30 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

are  absolutely  at  the  mercy  of  a  determined 
woman.  I  have  a  friend  who  has  just  married 
a  girl  —  whom  he  three  times  explicitly  refused  • — • 
only  because  she  asked  him  to." 

Miss  Fenimer  looked  at  him  thoughtfully. 

"  Surely  you  exaggerate,"  she  said. 

He  shook  his  head  sadly. 

"  I  wish  I  did,"  he  returned,  "  but  I  assure  you 
that  is  the  great  secret  —  that  any  man  would 
rather  marry  any  woman  than  refuse  her  to  her 
face.  You  see,  no  graceful  way  for  a  man  to 
say  *  no  '  has  ever  been  discovered." 

"  Why,  you  poor  defenseless  creatures  1  "  said 
Christine.  "  I  '11  teach  you  some  ways  immedi- 
ately. I  couldn't  bear  to  think  of  your  going 
about  a  prey  to  the  first  woman  who  proposed 
to  you.  Let  us  begin  our  lessons  immediately. 
Have  I  your  attention?" 

"  Completely." 

"  Let  me  see.  In  the  first  place  there  are  sev- 
eral general  types  of  proposal.  There  is  the 
calmly  rational,  the  passionate  whirlwind,  the 
dangerously  controlled,  or  volcano  under  a  sheet 
of  ice  — "  she  broke  off.  "  I  don't  know  how 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

women  do  it,"  she  said.     "  I  only  know  about 


men." 


He  smiled,  "  But  you  admit  to  knowing  all 
about  them,  I  gather  ?  " 

It  would  have  been  folly  to  deny  it. 

"  And  then  there  's  the  meltingly  pathetic,"  she 
went  on.  "  I  imagine  that 's  what  women  attempt 
oftenest.  Let  us  begin  with  that.  Now  you  are 
to  suppose  that  I,  with  tears  streaming  down 
my  face,  have  just  confessed  that  I  have  always 
looked  up  to  you  as  a  sort  of  god,  that  I  hardly 
dare—" 

"  Wait,  wait!  "  cried  Riatt.  "  This  is  by  far 
the  most  interesting  part  of  the  lesson,  and  you 
go  so  fast.  I  have  no  imagination.  I  don't  know 
how  it  would  be,  you  must  say  all  those  things." 

"  Do  I  have  to  cry?  "  said  Christine. 

Riatt  debated  the  point. 

"  No,"  he  answered  at  length,  "  I  can  imagine 
the  tears,  but  everything  else  you  must  act  out. 
Particularly  that  part  about  my  seeming  like  a 
god  to  you." 

"  But  how  in  the  world  can  I  teach  you  what 
to  do,  if  I  have  to  act  a  part  myself?  " 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Well,  before  we  begin,  just  give  me  a  sketch 
of  what  I  ought  to  do." 

"  You  must  be  very  cold  and  firm,  and  explain 
to  me  that  though  my  mistake  is  natural,  you  are 
really  not  a  god  at  all;  and  then  that  gives  you 
an  excuse  to  talk  a  great  deal  about  yourself,  and 
tell  how  wicked  and  human  and  splendid  you  are, 
and  that  you  are  not  worthy  of  a  simple,  good  girl 
like  myself,  and  how  you  don't  love  me  anyhow. 
And  then  the  essential  thing  is  to  go  away  quickly, 
and  end  the  interview  before  I  have  a  chance  to 
begin  all  over  again." 

He  looked  doubtfully  at  the  snow. 

"  Must  I  get  out  and  walk  home?  "  he  asked. 

"  No,"  she  said.  "  I  think  that 's  too  compli- 
cated. We  might  try  an  easier  one  to  begin. 
Suppose  we  do  the  calmly  rational  first.  I  explain 
to  you  that  I  have  watched  you  from  boyhood,  and 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  our  tastes,  our 
intellects,  our — " 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Riatt,  "  there  's  really  no  use 
in  going  on  with  that.  Even  I  should  have  no 
difficulty  with  any  lady  who  approached  me  in  that 
way.  But  there  was  one  of  the  others  that 

33 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

sounded   rather  promising   and   difficult.     How 
about  the  passionate  whirlwind?     I  say  to  try  that 


next." 


To  her  surprise,  Christine  found  herself  color- 
ing a  little. 

"Ah,"  she  said,  laying  her  hand  on  her  lips 
and  shaking  her  head,  "  that 's  very  difficult,  be- 
cause you  see,  it  really  can't  be  imitated  — " 

"Can't  be  imitated!"  cried  Max.  "Why, 
what  sort  of  a  teacher  are  you?  I  believe  you 
don't  know  your  job.  You  are  the  sort  of  teacher 
who  would  tell  an  arithmetic  class  that  long  divi- 
sion could  not  be  imitated.  I  believe  the  trouble 
with  you  is  that  you  don't  understand  the  passion- 
ate whirlwind  yourself.  I  believe  you  're  a  fraud, 
and  I  shall  have  your  license  to  teach  taken  away 
from  you.  Can't  be  imitated  1  Well,  let  me  sec 
you  try,  at  least." 

Christine  felt  that  he  had  the  better  of  her,  but 
she  said  firmly: 

"  Are  you  teaching  this  subject,  or  am  I?  " 

"  Certainly  you  can't  think  you  are.  But  if 
you  say  so,  I  '11  have  a  try." 

Not  sorry  to  create  a  diversion,  Christine 
34 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

looked  about  her,  and  was  more  diverted  from  the 
subject  in  hand  than  she  had  expected  to  be. 

They  were  on  the  wrong  road.  What  with  the 
snow  and  the  fact  that  she  had  been  so  busy  talk- 
ing that  she  really  had  no  idea  how  far  they  had 
been,  it  took  her  a  moment  to  orient  herself  anew. 
Sfrfc  ftold  him  with  a  conscience-struck  look. 

r'  And  you,"  said  Riatt,  "  who  do  not  even 
know  the  road  to  your  own  house,  were  volunteer- 
ing to  pilot  me  through  an  emotional  crisis." 

Even  a  suggestion  of  adverse  criticism  was  un- 
pleasant to  Miss  Fenimer.  She  was  not  accus- 
tomed to  it;  and  she  answered  with  some  sharp- 
ness: 

"  Yes,  but  the  road  is  real,  whereas  I  under- 
stand your  embarrassment  through  the  attentions 
of  ladies  is  purely  fictitious." 

Riatt  wondered  how  fictitious,  but  he  turned  the 
cutter  about  in  obedience  to  her  commands.  The 
horse  started  forward  even  more  gaily,  under  the 
impression  that  he  was  going  home.  But  for  the 
drivers,  the  change  was  not  so  agreeable.  A  high 
wind  had  come  up,  the  snow  was  falling  faster, 
and  the  light  of  the  winter  afternoon,  already  be- 

35 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

ginning  to  fade,  was  obscured  by  high,  dark,  silver- 
edged  banks  of  clouds. 

"  Upon  my  word,"  said  Riatt,  "  I  think  we  had 
better  go  back." 

"  It 's  only  a  little  way  from  here,"  Christine 
answered,  trying  hard  to  think  how  far  it  really 
was.  She  did  want  to  get  her  father's  coat,  but 
she  was  not  indifferent  to  the  triumph  of  making 
Riatt  late  for  dinner,  and  leaving  Nancy  Almar 
throughout  the  afternoon  with  no  companion  but 
Wickham  or  Jack  Ussher. 

The  wind  cut  their  faces,  the  horse  pulled  and 
pranced,  the  gaiety  had  gone  out  of  their  little 
expedition.  They  drove  on  a  mile  or  so,  and 
then  Riatt  stopped  the  horse. 

"  We  Ve  got  to  go  back,  Miss  Fenimer,"  he 
said  firmly. 

"Oh,  please  not,  Mr.  Riatt;  we  are  almost 
there,  and,"  she  added  with  a  fine  sense  of  filial 
obligation,  "  I  really  feel  I  must  do  as  my  father 
asked  me." 

Riatt  felt  inclined  to  point  out  that  she,  with 
her  muff  held  up  to  her  face,  was  not  making  the 
greatest  sacrifice  to  the  ideal  of  duty. 

36 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Have  you  any  very  clear  idea  where  your 
house  is  ?  "  he  asked.  His  tone  was  not  flattering, 
and  Christine  was  quick  to  feel  it. 

"  Do  I  know  where  I  live  five  months  of  the 
year?"  she  returned.  "Of  course  I  do.  It's 
just  over  this  next  hill." 

The  afternoon  was  turning  out  so  perversely 
that  she  would  hardly  have  been  surprised  to  find 
that  the  house  had  disappeared  from  its  accus- 
tomed place.  But  as  they  came  over  the  crest, 
there  it  was,  in  a  hollow  between  two  hills,  looking 
as  summer  houses  do  in  winter,  like  a  forlorn  toy 
left  out  in  the  snow. 

"  But  it 's  shut  up,"  said  Riatt.     "  There  's  no 


one  in  it." 


"  I  have  the  keys  to  the  back  door." 
He  touched  the  horse  for  the  first  time  with 
the  whip,  and  they  went  jingling  down  the  slope, 
in  between  the   almost  completely  buried  gate- 
posts, and  drew  up  before  the  kitchen  door. 

Miss  Fenimer  kicked  her  feet  free  from  the 
rugs,  jumped  out,  and  from  the  recesses  of  her 
muff  produced  a  key  which  she  inserted  in  the 
lock. 

37 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Now  you  won't  be  long,  will  you?  "  said  Riatt, 
with  more  of  command  than  persuasion  in  his 
tone. 

It  was  a  principle  of  life  on  the  part  of  Chris- 
tine that  she  never  allowed  any  man  to  bully  her; 
or  perhaps,  it  would  be  more  nearly  just  to  say 
that  she  never  intended  to  allow  any  man  to  do 
so  until  she  herself  became  persuaded  that  he 
could,  and  with  this  object  she  always  made  the 
process  look  as  difficult  and  dangerous  as  possible 
at  the  very  beginning. 

She  looked  back  at  him  and  smiled  with  irri- 
tating calm. 

u  I  shall  be  just  as  long  as  is  necessary,"  she 
replied,  and  so  saying,  she  turned,  or  rather  at- 
tempted to  turn,  the  key. 

But  disuse,  or  cold,  or  her  own  lack  of  strength 
prevented  and  she  was  presently  reduced  to  asking 
Riatt  to  help  her.  He  did  not  volunteer 
his  assistance.  She  had  definitely  and  directly 
to  ask  for  it.  Then  he  was  friendliness 
itself. 

"Just  stand  by  the  horse's  head,  will  you?" 
he  said,  and  when  he  saw  her  stationed  there,  he 

38 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

sprang  out,  and  with  an  almost  insulting  ease 
opened  the  door. 

Just  as  he  did  so,  however,  a  gust  of  wind, 
fiercer  than  any  other,  swept  round  the  corner 
of  the  house  and  carried  away  Christine's  hat. 
She  made  a  quick  gesture  to  catch  it,  and  as  she 
did  so,  struck  the  horse  under  the  chin.  The  ani- 
mal reared,  and  Christine  jumped  aside  to  avoid 
being  struck  by  its  hoofs ;  the  next  instant,  it  had 
thrown  its  head  in  the  air,  and  started  at  full 
speed  down  the  road,  dragging  the  empty  sleigh 
after  it.  Riatt,  who  had  his  back  turned,  did  not 
see  the  beginning  of  the  incident,  but  a  cry  from 
Christine  soon  roused  his  attention,  and  he  started 
in  pursuit,  calling  to  the  animal  to  stop,  in  the 
hope  that  the  human  voice  might  succeed  when 
all  other  methods  were  quite  obviously  useless. 
But  the  horse,  now  thoroughly  excited  by  the  hang- 
ing reins,  the  bells,  and  the  sense  of  its  own  power, 
went  only  faster  and  faster,  and  finally  disap- 
peared at  full  speed. 

Riatt  came  slowly  back;  he  was  sinking  in  the 
snow  to  his  waist  at  every  step.  Christine  was 
watching  him  with  some  anxiety. 

39 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Is  there  a  telephone  in  the  house  ?  "  he  asked. 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  No,  it 's  disconnected  when  we  leave  in  the 
autumn." 

There  was  a  moment's  silence,  then  she  said 
questioningly :  "  What  shall  we  do?  " 

"  There  's  only  one  thing  we  can  do,"  he  re- 
turned; "  go  into  the  house  and  light  a  fire." 

But  Christine  hesitated. 

"  I  don't  think  it  will  be  wise  to  waste  time 
doing  that,"  she  said,  "  if  you  have  to  go  back  on 
foot  to  the  Usshers' — " 

"  Go  back  on  foot!  "  Riatt  interrupted.  "  My 
dear  Miss  Fenimer,  that  is  quite  impossible.  It 
must  be  every  inch  of  ten  miles,  it 's  dark,  a  bliz- 
zard is  blowing,  I  don't  know  the  way,  and  we 
have  n't  passed  a  house." 

"  But,  but,"  said  she,  "  suppose  they  don't  res- 
cue us  to-night?  " 

"  They  probably  will  to-morrow,"  answered 
Riatt,  and  he  walked  past  her  into  the  house. 


40 


CHAPTER  II 

/CHRISTINE  was  glad  to  get  out  of  the  wind, 
V^  but  the  damp  chill  of  the  deserted  house 
was  not  much  of  an  improvement.  Ahead  of  her 
in  the  darkness,  she  could  hear  Riatt  snapping 
electric  switches  which  produced  nothing. 

"  Isn't  the  light  connected?  "  he  called. 

"  I  don't  know." 

"  Are  n't  there  lamps  in  the  house?  " 

"  I  don't  know." 

"  Where  could  I  find  some  candles?  " 

"What  a  tiresome  man!"  she  thought;  and 
for  the  third  time  she  answered :  "  I  don't  know." 

A  rather  unappreciative  grunt  was  his  only  re- 
ply, and  then  he  called  back:  "  You  'd  better  stay 
where  you  are,  till  I  find  something  to  make  a 

light." 

She  asked  nothing  better.  She  was  oppressed 
with  a  sense  of  crisis.  An  inner  voice  seemed  to 
be  saying,  in  parody  of  Charles  Francis  Adams's 

41 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

historic  words :  "  I  need  hardly  point  out  to  your 
ladyship  that  this  means  marriage." 

She  had  thought,  lightly  enough,  that  everything 
was  settled  the  evening  before  on  the  stairs  when 
she  had  made  up  her  mind  that  he  would  do.  But 
with  all  her  belief  in  herself,  she  was  not  unaware 
even  then  that  unforeseen  obstacles  might  arise. 
He  might  be  secretly  engaged  for  all  she  knew 
to  the  contrary.  But  now  she  felt  quite  sure  of 
him.  With  Fate  playing  into  her  hands  like 
this  —  with  romance  and  adventure  and  the 
possibilities  of  an  uninterrupted  tete-a-tete,  she 
knew  she  could  have  him  if  she  wanted  him.  And 
the  point  was  that  she  did.  At  least  she  supposed 
she  did.  She  felt  as  many  a  young  man  feels 
when  he  lands  his  first  job  < —  triumphant,  but  con- 
scious of  lost  freedoms. 

Marriage,  she  knew,  was  the  only  possible  solu- 
tion of  her  problems.  Her  life  with  her  father 
was  barely  possible.  As  a  matter  of  fact  they 
were  but  rarely  together.  The  tiny  apartment  in 
New  York  did  not  attract  Fred  Fenimer  as  a  win- 
ter residence,  when  he  had  an  opportunity  of  going 
to  Aiken  or  Florida  or  California  at  the  expense 

42 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

of  some  more  fortunate  friend.  In  summer  it 
was  much  the  same.  "  My  dear,"  he  would  say 
to  his  daughter,  "  I  really  can't  afford  to  open  the 
house  this  summer."  And  Christine  would  coldly 
asquiesce,  knowing  that  this  statement  only  meant 
that  he  had  received  an  invitation  that  he  pre- 
ferred to  a  quiet  summer  with  her. 

Sometimes  throughout  the  whole  season  father 
and  daughter  would  only  meet  by  chance  on  some 
unexpected  visit,  or  coming  into  a  harbor  on  dif- 
ferent yachts. 

"  Isn't  that  the  Sea-Mew's  flag?  "  Christine 
would  say  languidly.  "  I  rather  think  my  father 
is  on  board." 

And  then,  perhaps,  some  amiable  hostess  in  need 
of  an  extra  man  would  send  the  launch  to  the 
Sea-Mew  to  bring  Mr.  Fenimer  back  to  dine; 
and  he  would  come  on  board,  very  civil,  very  neat, 
very  punctilious  on  matters  of  yachting  etiquette ; 
and  he  and  Christine  having  exchanged  greeting, 
would  find  that  they  had  really  nothing  whatsoever 
to  say  to  each  other. 

Their  only  vital  topic  of  conversation  was 
money,  and  as  this  was  always  disagreeable,  both 

43 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

of  them  instinctively  tried  to  avoid  it.  Whenever 
Fenimer  had  money,  he  either  speculated  with  it, 
or  immediately  spent  it  on  himself.  So  that  he 
was  always  able  to  say  with  perfect  truth,  when- 
ever his  daughter  asked  for  it,  that  he  had  none. 
The  result  of  this  was  that  she  had  easily  drifted 
into  the  simple  custom  of  running  up  bills  for  what- 
ever she  needed,  and  allowing  the  tradesmen  to 
fight  it  out  with  her  father. 

Such  a  system  does  not  tend  to  economy. 
Christine's  idea  of  what  was  necessary,  derived 
from  the  extravagant  friends  who  offered  her  the 
most  opportunity  for  amusing  herself,  enlarged 
year  by  year.  Besides,  she  asked  herself,  why 
should  she  deny  herself,  in  order  that  her  father 
might  lose  more  money  in  copper  stocks? 

Sometimes  during  one  of  their  casual  meetings, 
he  would  say  to  her  under  his  breath :  "  Good 
Heavens,  girl,  do  you  know,  I  Ve  just  had  a  bill  of 
almost  three  thousand  dollars  from  your  infernal 
dressmaker?  How  can  I  stop  your  running  up 
such  bills?"  And  she  would  answer  coolly: 
"  By  paying  them  every  year  or  so." 

She  knew  —  she  had  always  known  since  she 
44 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

was  a  little  girl  —  that  from  this  situation,  only 
marriage  could  rescue  her,  and  from  the  worse 
situation  that  would  follow  her  father's  death;  for 
she  suspected  that  he  was  deeply  in  debt.  Not 
having  been  brought  up  in  a  sentimental  school  she 
was  prepared  to  do  her  share  in  arranging  such 
a  marriage.  In  the  world  in  which  she  lived,  com- 
petition was  severe.  Already  she  had  seen  a  pos- 
sible husband  carried  off  under  her  nose  by  a  little 
school-room  mouse  who  had  had  the  aid  of  an  ef- 
ficient mother. 

But  now  for  the  first  time  in  her  life,  she  saw 
that  the  game  was  in  her  own  hands.  She  had 
only  to  do  the  right  thing  —  only  perhaps  to  avoid 
doing  the  wrong  one  —  and  her  future  was  safe. 

She  heard  Riatt  calling  and  she  followed  him 
into  the  laundry,  where  he  had  collected  some 
candles:  he  was  much  engaged  in  lighting  a  fire 
in  the  stove. 

"  But  would  n't  the  kitchen  range  be  better?  " 
she  asked. 

"  No  water  turned  on,"  he  answered. 

To  her  this  answer  was  utterly  unintelligible. 
What,  she  wondered,  was  the  connection  between 

45 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

fire  and  water.  But,  rather  characteristically,  she 
was  disinclined  to  ask.  She  walked  to  the  sink, 
however,  and  turned  the  tap ;  a  long  husky  cough 
came  from  it,  but  no  water. 

After  this  burst  of  energy  she  sank  into  a  chair, 
amused  to  watch  his  arrangements.  Thoroughly 
idle  people  —  and  there  is  not  much  question  that 
Miss  Fenimer  was  idle  —  learn  a  variety  of  meth- 
ods for  keeping  other  people  at  work,  and  prob- 
ably the  most  effective  of  these  is  flattery.  Chris- 
tine may  have  been  ignorant  of  the  feminine  arts 
of  cooking  and  fire-making;  but  of  the  super-fem- 
inine art  of  flattery  she  was  a  thorough  mis- 
tress. 

Now  as  Riatt  finished  building  his  fire,  and  be- 
gan to  bring  in  buckets  of  snow  to  supply  their 
need  of  water,  the  gentle  flow  of  her  flattery 
soothed  him  as  the  sound  of  a  hidden  brook 
in  the  leafy  month  of  June.  Nor,  strangely 
enough,  did  the  fact  that  he  dimly  apprehended 
its  purpose  in  the  least  interfere  with  his  en- 
joyment. 

"  If  ever  I  'm  thrown  away  on  a  desert  island, 
I  speak  to  be  thrown  away  with  you,"  she  said. 
"  There  is  n't  another  man  of  my  acquaintance 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

who  could  bring  order  out  of  these  primitive  con- 
ditions." 

He  laughed.  "  Well,  you  know,"  he  said, 
"  this  is  n't  really  what  you  'd  call  primitive.  I 
was  snowed  up  in  Alaska  once." 

"  Alaska !  You  Ve  been  snowed  up  in 
Alaska?  "  she  echoed  in  the  tone  of  a  child  who 
says:  was  it  a  black  bear? 

Oh,  yes,  it  lightened  his  toil.  Nevertheless,  he 
asked  for  her  assistance  in  trying  to  find  some- 
thing to  eat.  She  knew  no  more  about  the  kitchen 
than  he  did,  but  she  advanced  toward  a  door  and 
opened  it  gingerly  between  her  thumb  and  fore- 
finger. It  was  the  kitchen  closet.  She  opened  a 
tin  box. 

"  There  is  something  here  that  looks  like 
gravel,"  she  called.  He  rushed  to  her  side.  It 
was  cereal.  He  found  other  supplies,  too,  a  little 
salt,  sugar,  coffee,  and  a  jar  of  bacon. 

"  How  clever  of  you  to  know  what  they  all  are," 
she  murmured,  and  he  felt  as  if  he  had  invented 
them  out  of  thin  air,  like  an  Eastern  magician. 

He  carried  them  back  to  the  kitchen.  "  I  won- 
der if  you  'd  get  the  coffee  grinder,"  he  said. 

47 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

She  had  n't  the  faintest  idea  what  a  coffee 
grinder  looked  like,  but  she  went  away 'to  find  it, 
and  came  back  presently  with  an  object  strange 
enough  to  serve  any  purpose. 

"Is  this  it?"  she  asked. 

"  That 's  a  meat  chopper,"  he  answered,  and 
then  laughed.  "  You  're  not  a  very  good  house- 
keeper, are  you?" 

"  Of  course  not,"  she  said.  "  Did  you  ever 
know  an  agreeable  woman  who  was?  Good 
housekeepers  are  always  bores,  because  they  can 
never  for  an  instant  get  their  minds  off  the  most 
tiresome  things  in  the  world  like  bills,  and  how  the 
servants  are  behaving.  All  clever  women  are  bad 
housekeepers,  and  so  they  always  find  some  one 
like  you  to  take  care  of  them." 

He  was  putting  the  cereal  to  boil,  and  answered 
only  after  a  second.  "  Perhaps  you  '11  think  me 
old-fashioned,  but  I  cannot  help  respecting  the  art 
of  housekeeping." 

"  Oh,  so  do  I  in  its  place,"  replied  Miss  Feni- 
mer.  "  My  maid  does  the  whole  thing  capitally. 
But  let  me  give  you  a  test.  Think  of  the  very 
best  housekeeper  you  ever  met.  Would  you  like 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

to  have  her  here  instead  of  me?  You  may  be 
quite  candid." 

Riatt  stopped  and  considered  an  instant  with 
his  head  on  one  side.  "  She  'd  make  me  awfully 
comfortable,"  he  said. 

Miss  Fenimer  nodded,  as  much  as  to  say:  yes, 
but  even  so  — 

"  No,"  he  said  at  length,  as  if  the  decision  had 
been  close.  "  No,  after  all  I  would  rather  do 
the  work  and  have  you.  But  it  is  n't  because  you 
are  a  poor  housekeeper  that  I  prefer  you.  It 's 
because  — " 

Compliments  upon  her  charms  were  platitudes 
to  Christine,  and  she  cut  him  short.  u  Yes,  it  is. 
It's  because  I'm  so  detached,  and  don't  interfere, 
and  let  you  do  things  your  own  way,  and  think 
you  so  wonderful  to  be  able  to  do  them  at  all. 
Now  if  I  knew  how  to  do  them,  too,  I  should  be 
criticizing  and  suggesting  all  the  time,  and  you  'd 
have  no  peace.  You  like  me  for  being  a  poor 
housekeeper!9 

He  smiled.  "  On  that  ground  I  ought  to  like 
you  very  much  then,"  he  answered. 

"  Perhaps  you  do,"  she  said  cheerfully.  "  Any- 
49 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

how  I  'm  sure  you  like  me  better  than  that  other 
girl  you  were  thinking  of  —  that  good  house- 
keeper.    Who  is  she?" 
"  I  like  her  quite  a  lot." 

"  I  see  —  you  think  she  'd  make  a  good  wife." 
"  I  think  she  'd  make  a  good  wife  to  any  man 
who  was  fortunate  enough — " 

"  Oh,  what  a  dreadful  way  to  talk  of  the  poor 
girl!" 

"  On  the  contrary,  I  admire  her  extremely." 
"  I  believe  you  are  engaged  to  her." 
"  Not  as  much  as  you  are  to  Hickson." 
Christine  laughed.     "  From  the  way  you  de- 
scribe her,"  she  said,  "  I  believe  she  'd  make  a 
perfect  wife  for  Ned." 

"  Oh,  she  Js  much  too  good  for  him." 
"  Thank  you.     You  seem  to  think  I  '11  do  nicely 
for  him." 

"  Ah,  but  she  's  much  better  than  you  are." 
"  And  yet  you  said  you  'd  rather  have  me  here 
than  her." 

He  smiled.  "  I  think,"  he  said,  and  Christine 
rather  waited  for  his  next  words,  "  I  think  I  shall 
go  down  and  see  if  I  can't  get  the  furnace  going." 

5° 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Nevertheless,  she  said  to  herself  when  he  was 
gone,  "  I  should  not  feel  at  all  easy  about  him, 
if  I  were  the  other  girl." 

She  knew  there  was  no  prospect  of  their  being 
rescued  that  night.  When  the  sleigh  arrived  at 
the  Usshers',  if  it  ever  did  arrive,  its  empty  shat- 
tered condition  would  suggest  an  accident.  The 
Usshers  were  at  that  moment  probably  searching 
for  them  in  ditches,  and  hedges.  The  marks 
of  the  sleigh  would  be  quickly  obliterated  by  the 
storm.  No,  she  thought  comfortably,  there  was 
no  escape  from  the  fact  that  their  situation  was 
compromising.  The  only  question  was  how  could 
the  matter  be  most  tactfully  called  to  his  attention. 
At  the  moment  he  seemed  happily  unaware  that 
such  things  as  the  proprieties  existed. 

At  this  his  head  appeared  at  the  head  of  the 
cellar  stairs. 

"  Watch  the  cereal,  please,"  he  said,  "  and  see 
that  it  does  n't  burn." 

"Like  King  Alfred?" 

"  Not  too  much  like  him,  please,  for  that  piti- 
ful little  dab  of  food  is  about  all  we  have  to 


eat." 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

When  he  was  gone  Christine  advanced  toward 
the  stove  and  looked  at  the  cereal  —  looked  at  it 
closely,  but  it  seemed  to  her  to  be  but  little  bene- 
fited by  her  attention.  Presently  she  discovered 
on  a  shelf  beside  the  laundry  clock  a  pinkish  purple 
paper  novel,  called:  "  The  Crime  of  the  Season.'7 
Its  cover  depicted  a  man  in  a  check  suit  and  side- 
whiskers  looking  on  in  astonishment  at  the  removal 
of  a  drowned  lady  in  full  evening  dress  from  a 
very  minute  pond.  Christine  opened  it,  and  was 
so  fortunate  as  to  come  full  upon  the  crime.  She 
became  as  completely  absorbed  in  it  as  the  laun- 
dress had  been  before  her. 

She  was  recalled  to  the  more  sordid  but  less 
criminal  surroundings  of  real  life  by  a  strong 
pungent  smell.  She  sniffed,  and  then  her  heart 
suddenly  sank  as  she  realized  that  the  cereal  was 
burning.  She  recognized  a  peculiarly  disagreeable 
flavor  about  which  she  had  often  scolded  the  cook, 
thinking  such  carelessness  on  the  part  of  one  of 
her  employees  to  be  absolutely  inexcusable. 

She  ran  to  the  head  of  the  cellar  stairs.  "  Mr. 
Riatt!"  she  called. 

He  was  now  shaking  down  the  furnace,  and 
5.2 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

the  noise  completely  drowned  her  voice.  "Oh, 
dear,  what  a  noisy  man  he  is,"  she  thought  and 
when  he  had  finished,  she  called  again :  "  Mr. 
Riatt!" 

This  time  he  heard.  "What  is  it?"  he  an- 
swered. 

"Mr.  Riatt,  what  shall  I  do?  The  cereal  is 
burning  terribly." 

"  I  should  think  it  was,"  he  said.  "  I  can  smell 
it  down  here."  He  sprang  up  the  stairs  and 
snatched  the  pot  from  the  stove.  "  You  must 
have  stopped  stirring  it,"  he  said. 

"Oh,  I  did  n't  stir  it!" 

"What  did  you  do?" 

"  You  did  n't  tell  me  to  stir  it." 

"  I  certainly  did." 

"  No,  you  said  just  to  watch  it." 

Riatt  looked  at  her.  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  Ve 
heard  of  glances  cutting  like  a  knife,  but  never 
stirring  like  a  spoon.  If  I  were  a  really  just 
man,"  he  went  on,  "  I  'd  make  you  eat  that  burnt 
mess  for  your  supper,  but  I  'm  so  absurdly  in- 
dulgent that  I  '11  share  some  of  my  bacon  and 
biscuits  with  you." 

53 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

His  tone  as  well  as  his  words  were  irritating 
to  one  not  used  to  criticism  in  any  form. 

"  I  don't  care  for  that  sort  of  joke,"  she  said. 

"  I  was  n't  aware  of  having  made  a  joke." 

"  I  mean  your  attitude  as  if  I  were  a  child  that 
had  been  naughty." 

"  It  would  n't  be  so  bad  if  you  were  a  child." 

"  You  consider  me  to  blame  because  that 
wretched  cereal  chose  to  burn?" 

"  Emphatically  I  do." 

"  How  perfectly  preposterous,"  said  Christine, 
and  a  sense  of  bitter  injustice  seethed  within  her. 
"  Why  in  the  world  should  /  be  expected  to  know 
how  to  cook?  " 

"  I  'm  a  little  too  busy  at  the  moment  to  explain 
it  to  you,"  Riatt  answered,  "  but  I  promise  to  take 
it  up  with  you  at  a  later  date." 

There  was  something  that  sounded  almost  like 
a  threat  in  this.  She  turned  away,  and  walking 
to  the  window  stood  staring  out  into  the  darkness. 
He  was  really  quite  a  disagreeable  young  man, 
she  thought.  How  true  it  was,  that  you  could  n't 
tell  what  people  were  like  when  everything  was 
going  smoothly.  She  wondered  if  he  would  al- 

54 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

ways  be  like  that  —  trying  to  keep  one  up  to  one's 
duty  and  making  one  feel  stupid  and  ignorant 
about  the  merest  trifles. 

"  Well,  this  rich  meal  is  ready,"  he  said  pres- 
ently. 

She  turned  around.  The  table  was  set  —  she 
could  n't  help  wondering  where  he  had  found  the 
kitchen  knives  and  forks  —  the  bacon  was  siz- 
zling, the  tin  of  biscuits  open,  and  the  coffee  bub- 
bling and  gurgling  in  its  glass  retort. 

She  sat  down  and  began  to  eat  in  silence,  but 
as  she  did  so,  she  studied  him  furtively.  She  was 
used  to  many  different  kinds  of  masculine  bad 
temper;  her  father's  irritability  whenever  any- 
thing affected  his  personal  comfort:  and  from 
other  men  all  forms  of  jealousy  and  hurt  feel- 
ings. But  this  stern  indifference  to  her  as  a  human 
being  was  something  a  little  different.  She  de- 
cided on  her  method. 

"  Oh,  dear,"  she  said,  "  this  meal  could  n't  be 
much  drearier  if  we  were  married,  could  it?" 

"  Except,"  he  returned,  unsmilingly,  "  that  then 
it  would  be  one  of  a  long  series." 

"  Not  as  far  as  I  'm  concerned,"  she  answered. 

55 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  I   should  leave  you  on  account  of  your  bad 
temper." 

"  If  I  had  n't  first  left  you  on  account  of  — " 

"Of  burning  the  cereal?" 

"  Of  being  so  infernally  irresponsible  about 
it." 

"Oh,  that's  the  trouble,  is  it?"  she  said. 
"That  I  did  not  seem  to  care?  Well,  I  assure 
you  that  I  don't  like  burnt  food  any  better  than 
you  do,  but  I  have  some  self-control.  I  would  n't 
spoil  a  whole  evening  just  because — "  A  sud- 
den inspiration  came  to  her.  Her  voice  failed 
her,  and  she  hid  her  face  in  her  pocket  handker- 
chief. 

Riatt  leant  back  in  his  chair  and  looked  at  her, 
looked  at  least  at  the  back  of  her  long  neck,  and 
the  twist  of  her  golden  hair  and  the  occasional 
heave  of  her  shoulders. 

The  strange  and  the  humiliating  thing  was  that 
she  had  just  as  much  effect  upon  him  when  he 
quite  obviously  knew  that  she  was  insincere. 

"  Why,"  he  said  gently,  "  are  you  crying?  Or 
perhaps  I  ought  to  say,  why  are  you  pretending 
to  cry?" 

56 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

She  paid  no  attention  to  the  latter  part  of  his 
question. 

"  You  're  so  unkind,"  she  said,  careful  not  to 
overdo  a  sob.  "  You  don't  seem  to  understand 
what  a  terrible  situation  this  is  for  me." 

"  In  what  way  is  it  terrible?  " 

"  Don't  you  know  that  a  story  like  this  clings 
to  a  girl  as  long  as  she  lives?  That  among  the 
people  I  know  there  will  always  be  gossip  — " 

"  You  're  not  serious?  " 

She  nodded,  still  behind  her  handkerchief, 
"  Yes,  I  am.  This  will  be  something  I  shall  have 
to  live  down,  as  much  as  you  would  if  you  had 
robbed  a  bank." 

She  now  raised  her  head,  and  wiping  her  eyes 
hard  enough  to  make  them  a  little  red,  she  glanced 
at  him. 

Really  she  thought  it  would  save  a  great  deal 
of  time  and  trouble,  if  he  could  just  see  the  thing 
clearly  and  ask  her  to  marry  him  now. 

But  apparently  his  mind  did  not  work  so 
quickly. 

"Who  will  repeat  it?"  he  said.  "Not  the 
Usshers— " 

57 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Nancy  Almar  won't  let  it  pass.  She  '11  have 
found  the  evening  dull  without  you,  and  she  '11 
feel  she  has  a  right  to  compensation.  And  that 
worm,  Wickham;  it  will  be  his  favorite  anecdote 
for  the  rest  of  his  life.  I  was  horrible  to  him 
last  night  at  dinner." 

"  Sorry  you  were?  " 

"  Not  a  bit.  I  'd  do  it  again,  but  I  may  as 
well  face  the  fact  that  he  won't  be  eager  to  con- 
ceal his  own  social  triumphs  for  the  sake  of  my 
good  name.  Can't  you  hear  him,  '  Curious  thing 
happened  the  other  day  —  at  my  friends  the 
Usshers'.  Know  them?  A  lovely  country 
place  _'_" 

"I'm  awfully  sorry,"  he  said.  "What  a 
bore !  Is  there  anything  I  could  do  — " 

"  Well,  there  is  one  thing." 

He  looked  up  quickly.  If  ever  terror  flashed 
in  a  man's  eyes,  she  saw  it  then  in  his.  Her  heart 
sank,  but  her  mind  worked  none  the  less  well. 

"  It 's  this,"  she  went  on  smoothly.  "  There  's 
a  lodge,  a  sort  of  tool-house,  only  about  half  a 
mile  down  the  road.  Couldn't  you  take  a  Ian- 

58 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

tern,  couldn't  you  possibly  spend  the  night 
there?" 

"  It  is  n't  by  any  chance,"  he  said,  "  that  you  're 
afraid  of  having  me  here?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  not  you,"  she  answered.  "  No,  I 
should  feel  much  safer  with  you  here  than  there." 
(If  he  went  her  case  was  ruined,  and  she  was 
now  actually  afraid  perhaps  he  would  go.)  "  I 
should  be  terrified  in  this  great  place  all  by  myself. 
Still,  I  think  you  ought  to  go.  It 's  not  so  very 
far.  You  go  down  the  road  a  little  way  and 
then  turn  to  the  right  through  the  woods.  I  think 
you  '11  find  it.  The  roof  used  to  leak  a  little,  but 
I  dare  say  you  won't  mind  that.  There  is  n't  any 
fireplace,  but  you  could  take  lots  of  blankets  < — " 

"  I  tell  you  what  I  '11  do,"  he  said.  "  No  one 
will  come  to  rescue  us  to-night.  I  '11  sleep  here 
to-night,  and  to-morrow  as  soon  as  it 's  light,  I  '11 
go  to  this  cottage,  and  when  they  come,  you  can 
tell  them  any  story  you  please.  Will  that  do?  " 

It  did  perfectly.  "  Oh,  thank  you,"  she  said. 
"  How  kind  you  are !  And  you  do  forgive  me, 
don't  you?  " 

59 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"About  the  cereal?  Oh,  yes,  on  one  condi- 
tion." 

"What  is  that?"  She  was  still  meltingly 
sweet. 

"  That  you  wash  these  dishes." 

She  felt  inclined  to  box  his  ears.  Had  he  seen 
through  her  all  the  time? 

"  I  never  washed  a  dish  in  my  life,"  she  ob- 
served thoughtfully. 

"  Have  you  ever  done  anything  useful?  " 

She  reflected,  and  after  some  thought  she  re- 
plied, not  boastfully,  but  as  one  who  states  an 
indisputable  fact:  "Never." 

He  folded  his  arms,  leant  against  the  wall  and 
looked  down  upon  her.  "  I  wish,"  he  said,  "  if 
it  is  n't  too  much  trouble  that  you  would  give  me 
a  detailed  account  of  one  of  your  average 
days." 

*  You  talk,"  said  she,  "  as  if  you  were  study- 
ing the  manners  and  customs  of  savages." 

"  Let  us  say  of  an  unknown  tribe." 

She  leant  back  in  her  chair  and  stretched  her 
arms  over  her  head.  "  Well,  let  me  see,"  she 
said.  "  I  wake  up  about  nine  or  a  little  after  if 

60 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

I  have  n't  been  up  all  night,  and  I  ring  for  my 
maid.  And  about  eleven — " 

"  Don't  skip,  please.  You  ring  for  your  maid. 
What  does  she  do  for  you?  " 

Imagine  any  one's  not  knowing!  Miss  Feni- 
mer  marveled.  "  Why,  she  draws  my  bath  and 
puts  out  my  things,  and  while  I  'm  taking  my  bath, 
she  straightens  the  room  and  lights  the  fire,  if 
it 's  cold,  and  brings  in  my  breakfast-tray  and  my 
letters.  And  by  half-past  ten,  I  'm  finally  dressed 
if  no  one  has  come  in  to  delay  me,  only  some  one 
always  has.  Last  winter  my  time  was  immensely 
occupied  by  two  friends  of  mine  who  had  both 
fallen  in  love  with  the  same  man  —  one  of  them 
was  married  to  him  —  and  they  used  to  come 
every  day  and  confide  in  me.  You  have  no  idea 
how  amusing  it  was.  He  behaved  shockingly, 
but  I  could  n't  help  feeling  a  little  sorry  Tor  him. 
They  were  both  such  determined  women.  Fi- 
nally I  went  to  him,  and  told  him  how  it  was  I 
knew  so  much  about  his  affairs,  and  said  I  thought 
he  ought  to  try  and  make  up  his  mind  which  of 
them  he  really  did  care  for.  And  what  do  you 
think  he  said?  That  he  had  always  been  in  love 

61 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

with  me."     She  laughed.     "  How  absurdly  things 
happen,  don't  they?  " 

"  Good  Heavens!  "  said  Riatt. 

"  But  even  at  the  worst,  I  'm  generally  out  by 
noon,  and  get  a  walk.  I  'm  rather  dependent  on 
exercise,  and  then  I  lunch  with  some  one  or 
other—" 

"  Men  or  women?  " 

"  Either  or  both.  And  then  after  lunch  I  drive 
with  some  one,  or  go  to  see  pictures  or  hear  music, 
and  then  I  like  to  be  at  home  by  tea  time,  because 
that 's,  of  course,  the  hour  every  one  counts  on 
finding  you ;  and  then  there  's  dressing  and  going 
out  to  dinner,  and  very  often  something  after- 
wards." 

"  Good  Lord,"  said  Riatt  again,  and  after  a 
moment  he  added:  "  And  does  that  life  amuse 
you?" 

"  No,  but  it  does  n't  bore  me  as  much  as  doing 
things  that  are  more  trouble." 

"What  sort  of  things?" 

"  Oh,  being  on  committees  that  you  don't  really 
take  any  interest  in."  She  rather  enjoyed  his 
amazement. 

62 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Now  tell  me  one  thing  more,"  he  said. 
"  What  would  you  do  if  you  had  to  earn  your 
living?" 

The  true  answer  was  that  she  would  marry 
Edward  Hickson,  but,  though  heretofore  she  had 
been  fairly  candid,  she  thought  on  this  point  a 
little  dissembling  was  permissible.  "  I  should 
starve,  I  suppose,"  she  returned  gaily. 

"  And  suppose  you  fell  in  love  with  a  poor 
man?" 

She  grew  grave  at  once.  "  Oh,  that 's  a  dread- 
ful thing  to  happen  to  one,"  she  said.  "  I  Ve 
had  two  friends  who  did  that."  She  almost 
shuddered.  "  One  actually  married  him." 

"  And  what  happened  to  her?  " 

Miss  Fenimer  shook  her  head.  "  I  don't 
know.  She  's  living  in  the  suburbs  somewhere. 
I  have  n't  seen  her  for  ages." 

uAnd  the  other?" 

"  She  was  more  practical.  She  married  him 
to  a  rich  widow  ten  years  older  than  he  was. 
That  provided  for  him,  you  see,  at  least.  But 
it  turned  out  worse  than  the  other  case." 

"How?" 

63 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Why,    he    fell    in    love    with    this    other 


woman  — " 


"  His  wife,  you  mean?  " 
1  Yes.     Imagine  it!     Men  are  so  fickle." 

"  Do  you  know  that  you  really  shock  me?  " 

"  It 's  better  to  appreciate  the  way  things  are." 

"  It  is  n't  the  way  things  are  among  decent 
normal  human  beings." 

She  shrugged  her  shoulders.  "  Oh,  I  imagine 
it  is,"  she  said,  "  only  they  're  not  honest  enough 
to  admit  it." 

He  continued  to  stare  at  her  and,  strangely 
enough,  she  had  never  seemed  to  him  more  beauti- 
ful. 

"  And  do  you  mean  to  tell  me,"  he  said,  "  that 
people  who  have  the  standards  that  you  describe 
will  attach  the  slightest  importance  to  an  innocent 
little  adventure  like  this  of  ours?" 

"  Of  course.  They  are  the  very  people  who 
will." 

"  Nonsense." 

"  Yes,  because  they  make  a  point  of  always 
believing  the  worst,  or  at  least  of  pretending  to." 

"Why  pretend?" 

64 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Because  it  makes  conversation  so  much  more 
amusing.  Sometimes,''  she  added  thoughtfully, 
"  I  have  a  terrible  suspicion  that  there  really  is  n't 
an  atom  of  harm  in  any  of  them  —  that  they  all 
behave  perfectly  well,  and  just  excite  themselves 
by  talking  as  if  they  did  n't." 

"  And  you  call  that  suspicion  terrible?" 

"  Well,  it  makes  it  all  seem  a  little  flat.  But 
then  sometimes,"  she  went  on  brightly,  "  one  does 
find  out  something  absolutely  hideous." 

"  See  here,"  he  said,  "  it 's  a  crime  for  a  girl  of 
your  age  to  talk  like  this.  It 's  a  silly  habit.  I 
don't  believe  you  're  like  that  at  heart." 

"  You  talk,"  said  she,  "  like  Edward  Hickson." 

"  In  some  communities  that  would  be  thought 
a  fighting  word,"  he  returned.  "  But  you 
have  n't  yet  answered  my  question.  You  've  told 
.me  what  your  friends  have  done;  but  what  would 
you  do  yourself,  if  you  fell  in  love  with  a  poor 
man?" 

"  In  the  first  place,  I  never  should.  What 
makes  a  man  attractive  to  me  is  power,  preemi- 
nence, being  bowed  down  to.  If  I  lived  in  a  mili- 
tary country,  I  'd  love  the  greatest  soldier ;  and 

65 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

if  I  lived  in  a  savage  country,  I  'd  love  the  strong- 
est warrior;  but  here  to-day,  the  only  form  of 
power  I  see  is  money.  It 's  what  makes  you  able 
to  have  everything  you  want,  and  that 's  a  man's 
greatest  charm." 

"  And  it  seems  to  me  that  the  most  tied-down 
creatures  I  ever  saw  are  the  rich  men  I  've  met 
in  the  East." 

She  was  honestly  surprised.  "  Why,  what  is 
there  they  can't  do  ?  "  she  asked. 

He  smiled.  "  They  can't  do  anything  that 
might  endanger  their  property  rights,"  he  an- 
swered, "  and  that  seems  to  me  to  cut  them  off 
from  most  forms  of  human  endeavor.  But  no 
matter  about  that.  You  say  you  would  not  be 
likely  to  fall  in  love  with  a  poor  man,  but  suppose 
you  did.  Perhaps  it  has  happened  already?  " 

Miss  Fenimer  looked  thoughtful.  "  I  was 
trying  to  think,"  she  said.  "  Yes,  there  was  a 
young  artist  two  years  ago  that  I  was  rather  in- 
terested in.  He  was  very  nice  looking,  and 
Nancy  Almar  kept  telling  me  how  much  he  was 
in  love  with  her." 

"And  that  stimulated  your  interest?" 
66 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Of  course." 

"  Just  for  the  sake  of  information,"  he  said, 
"  do  you  always  want  to  take  away  any  man  who 
is  safely  devoted  to  another  woman?  " 

Christine  seemed  resolved  to  be  accurate.  "  It 
depends, "  she  answered,  "  whether  or  not  I  have 
anything  else  to  do,  but  of  course  the  idea  always 
pops  into  one's  head:  I  wonder  if  I  couldn't 
make  him  like  me  best." 

"  And  do  you  always  find  you  can?  " 

"  Oh,  there  's  no  rule  about  it;  only  as  a  new- 
comer one  has  the  advantage  of  novelty,  iand 
that 's  something." 

"  And  what  happened  about  this  artist?  " 

Christine  smiled  reminiscently:  "  I  found  he 
wasn't  really  in  love  with  Nancy  at  all:  he  just 
wanted  to  paint  her  portrait." 

"  I  should  think  he  would  have  wanted  to  paint 
yours." 

"  He  did  and  gave  it  to  me  as  a  present,  and 
then  he  behaved  very  badly."  She  sighed. 

"What  did  he  do?" 

"  Well,"  she  hesitated.  "  He  did  not  really 
want  to  give  me  the  picture.  He  thought  he 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

wanted  to  keep  it  himself.  It  was  much  the  best 
thing  he  ever  did.  I  had  to  persuade  him  a  good 
deal,  and  in  persuading  him,  I  may  have  given 
him  the  impression  that  I  cared  about  him  more 
than  I  really  did.  Anyhow,  after  I  actually  had 
the  portrait  hanging  in  my  sitting-room,  I  told 
him  I  thought  it  was  better  for  us  not  to  meet 
any  more.  Some  men  would  have  been  flattered 
to  think  I  took  them  so  seriously.  But  he  was 
furious,  and  one  day  when  I  was  out  he  sent  for 
the  portrait  and  cut  it  all  to  pieces.  Was  n't  that 
horrible?  My  pretty  portrait !  " 

"  Horrible !  "  said  Riatt.  "  It  seems  to  me  the 
one  spark  of  spirit  the  poor  young  man  showed." 

She  glanced  at  him  under  her  lashes.  "  What 
would iyou  have  done?" 

.  "  I'd  take  you  but  to  the  plains  for  a  year  or 
so,  and  let  you  find  out  a  little  about  what  life 
is  like." 

"  I  don't  think  it  would  be  a  success,"  she  re- 
turned. "  I  don't  profit  by  discipline,  I  'm  afraid. 
But,"  she  stood  up,  "  I  'm  perfectly  open  minded. 
I  '11  make  a  beginning.  I  '11  wash  the  dishes  — • 
just  to  please  you." 

68 


nd  then,  with  a  clean  towel,  he  deliberately  dried  her  hands,  finger 
by  finger 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE  . 

He  watched  her  go  to  the  kitchen  sink,  and 
pour  water  from  the  steaming  kettle  into  a  dish 
pan,  saw  her  turn  up  her  lace-frilled  cuffs,  and 
begin  with  her  long,  slim,  inefficient  hands  to 
take  up  the  dirty  plates.  Suddenly,  much  to  his 
surprise,  he  found  he  could  n't  bear  it,  could  n't 
bear  to  see  the  lace  fall  down  again  and  again,  and 
her  obvious  shrinking  from  the  task. 

He  crossed  the  room  and  took  the  plates  from 
her,  and  then  with  a  clean  towel,  he  deliberately 
dried  her  hands,  finger  by  finger,  while  she  stood 
by  like  a  docile  child,  looking  up  at  liim  in  wonder. 

"  Don't  you  want  to  reform  me?'*  she  asked 
plaintively. 

"  No,"  he  answered  shortly. 

"Why  not?"- 

"  Because  you  would  be  too  dangerous,"  he 
returned.  "  Now  you  have  every  charm  except 
goodness.  If  you  turned  good  and  gentle  you  'd 
be  supreme." 

"  I  never  thought  goodness  was  a  charm"  she 
objected. 

"  And  that 's  just  what  I  hope  you  will  never 
find  out." 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

She  laughed.  "  I  don't  believe  there  's  much 
danger,"  she  said.  "  I  think  I  shall  go  on  being 
wicked  and  mercenary  and  selfish  to  the  day  of 
my  death,  and  probably  getting  everything  I 
want." 

"  I  hope  not.  I  mean  I  hope  you  won't  get 
what  you  want." 

"  Oh,  why  are  you  so  unkind?  " 

"  Because  I  shall  want  to  use  you  as  a  terrible 
example  to  my  grandchildren." 

"  Do  you  think  you  will  remember  me  as  long 
as  that?" 

"  I  feel  no  doubt  about  it." 

She  smiled.  "  It  seems  rather  hard  that  I  have 
to  come  to  a  bad  end  just  to  oblige  your  horrid 
little  grandchildren,"  she  said.  "  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  I  shall  probably  run  them  down  in  my  motor 
as  they  go  to  work  with  their  little  dinner-pails. 
And  as  I  take  their  mangled  forms  to  the  hospital, 
I  '11  murmur :  *  Riatt,  Riatt,  I  think  I  once  knew 
a  half-hearted  reformer  of  that  name/  ' 

"  You  think  you,  too,  will  remember  as  long  as 
that?" 

"  I  have  an  excellent  memory  for  trifles,"  she 
72 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

returned,  and  rose  yawning.  "  And  now  I  think 
I  '11  go  to  bed  • —  unless  there  's  anything  more  you 
want  to  know  about  our  tribal  customs.  Are  you 
going  to  write  a  nature  book  about  us :  4  Head- 
hunting Among  the  Idle  Rich  '?  " 

"  '  The  Cannibals  of  the  Atlantic  Coast '  is  the 
title,"  he  answered  as  he  gave  her  a  candle. 
"  I  '11  leave  your  breakfast  for  you  in  the  morning 
before  I  go.  And  by  the  way,  if  some  one  comes 
to  rescue  you,  don't  go  off  and  leave  me  in  the 
tool-house,  will  you?  " 

"  Oh,  I  'm  not  really  as  bad  as  that." 

He  shook  his  head  as  if  he  did  n't  feel  sure. 
'  She  went  away  well  satisfied  with  her  evening's 
work.  There  had  been  something  extremely  flat- 
tering in  his  mingled  horror  and  amusement  at 
her  candid  revelations.  Holding  up  the  candle 
she  looked  at  her  own  image  in  her  mirror. 
"  I  wonder,"  she  thought,  "  if  that  young  man 
knows  what  a  dangerous  frame  of  mind  he  's 
in?" 

He  had  some  suspicion,  for  as  he  dragged  a 
mattress  downstairs  and  laid  it  before  the  kitchen 
fire,  he  kept  repeating  to  himself,  as  if  in  a  last 

73 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

effort  to  rouse  some  moral  enthusiasm :     "  What 
a  band  of  cut-throats  they  are !  " 

Christine  woke  the  next  morning  to  find  the 
sun  shining  on  an  unbroken  sheet  of  snow.  The 
storm  had  passed  in  the  night.  She  dressed 
quickly  and  went  down  to  find  the  kitchen  empty, 
and  the  track  of  footsteps  in  the  snow  leading 
away  in  the  direction  of  the  tool-house.  Her 
coffee  was  bubbling  and  slices  of  bacon  neatly  laid 
in  the  frying  pan  were  ready  for  cooking.  She 
thought  he  might  have  stayed  and  cooked  it  for 
her. 

"  No  one  will  come  as  early  as  this,"  she 
thought,  plaintively. 

But  hardly  had  she  finished  her  simple  meal, 
when  the  sound  of  sleigh  bells  reached  her  ears, 
and  running  to  the  window  she  .saw  that  Ussher 
and  Hickson  in  a  two  horse  sleigh  were  driving 
down  the  slope. 

A  moment  later  they  were  in  the  kitchen.  And 
after  the  minimum  time  had  elapsed  during  which 
all  three  talked  at  once  recounting  their  own  indi- 
vidual anxieties,  Ussher  asked: 

"Where's  Max?" 

74 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Christine  cast  down  her  eyes  with  a  sort  of 
Paul-and-Virginia  expression,  as  she  answered: 
"  Oh,  he  is  sleeping  in  the  tool-house!  " 

;'  Well,  I  call  that  damned  nonsense,"  said 
Ussher.  "  Let  a  man  freeze  to  death !  Upon 
my  word,  Christine,  I  thought  you  had  more 
sense."  And  he  strode  away  to  the  back  door. 
"  Yes,  here  are  his  tracks,  poor  fellow."  Ussher 
went  out  after  him,  and  Hickson  turned  back. 

"  But  you  think  I  was  right,  don't  you,  Ed- 
ward?" said  Christine,  for  she  had  never  failed 
to  elicit  commendation  from  Edward. 

But  now  his  brow  was  dark.  "  But,  I  say, 
Christine,"  he  said,  "  there  's  one  thing  I  don't 
understand.  These  tracks  of  his  footsteps  in  the 


snow." 


u  He  did  n't  fly,  Ned,  even  if  he  is  an  aviator." 

'  Yes,  but  it  did  n't  stop  snowing  until  four 
o'clock  this  morning." 

How  irritating  the  weather  always  is,  Christine 
thought.  For  though  she  was  willing  to  use  scan- 
dal as  a  weapon  over  Riatt,  she  was  not  sure  that 
she  wished  to  put  it  into  Hickson's  hands. 

She  thought  hard,  and  then  said  brightly: 
75 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Oh,  perhaps  he  came  back  for  his  breakfast  be- 
fore I  was  up." 

Hickson  shook  his  head:  "  They  only  lead 
one  way,"  he  said. 

In  the  face  of  the  tactlessness  of  hard  facts, 
Christine  decided  to  create  a  diversion. 

"  I  can't  stand  here  gossiping  about  the  con- 
duct of  an  aviator,"  she  said,  "  when  there  's  so 
much  to  be  done.  Look  at  all  these  dirty  plates. 
What  ought  to  be  done  with  them,  Edward, 
dear?  "  she  appealed  to  him  as  to  a  fountain  of 
wisdom,  and  he  did  not  fail  her. 

"  They  ought  to  be  washed,"  he  said.  "  Give 
me  a  towel.  I  '11  do  it."  And  he  felt  more  than 
rewarded  when,  as  she  handed  him  a  towel,  her 
hand  touched  his. 

The  many  duties  of  which  she  had  just  spoken 
seemed  suddenly  to  have  melted  away,  for  she  sat 
down  quite  idly  and  watched  him. 

"  How  well  you  do  it,  Edward,"  she  said,  not 
quite  honestly,  for  she  compared  his  slow  gestures 
very  unfavorably  with  Riatt's  deft  hands.  "  It 's 
quite  as  if  you  had  washed  dishes  all  your  life." 

"  Ah,  Christine,"  he  answered,  looking  at  her 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

sentimentally  over  a  coffee-cup,  "  I  should  n't  ask 
anything  better  than  to  wash  your  dishes  for  the 
rest  of  my  life." 

"  Thank  you,  Edward,  but  I  think  I  should  ask 
something  a  good  deal  better,"  she  answered. 

It  was  on  this  scene  that  Ussher  and  Riatt  en- 
tered, and  the  eyes  of  the  latter  twinkled. 

"  Engaged  a  kitchen-maid,  I  see,"  he  said  in  a 
low  tone  to  Christine. 

"  I  think  it 's  so  good  for  people  to  do  some- 
thing useful  now  and  then,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  A  form  of  education  that  you  offer  almost 
every  one  who  comes  near  you." 

Hickson  did  not  hear  everything,  but  he  caught 
the  idea,  and  said  severely: 

"  I  don't  suppose  any  one  would  ask  Miss 
Fenimer  to  wash  dirty  dishes." 

Riatt  laughed :     "  No  one  who  had  ever  seen 

her  try." 

J 

Ussher,  who  had  been  fuming  in  the  back- 
ground, now  broke  out: 

"  Upon  my  word,  Christine,  that  tool-house  was 
like  a  vault.  It  was  madness  to  ask  any  one  to 
spend  the  night  in  such  a  place." 

77 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Did  you  spend  the  night  in  the  tool-house?  " 
said  Hickson  with  unusual  directness. 

"  There  are  worse  places  than  the  tool-house," 
said  Riatt,  as  he  and  Ussher  hurried  down  to  the 
cellar  to  put  out  the  furnace  fire. 

Hickson  turned  to  Christine.  "  The  fellow 
did  n't  answer  me,"  he  said. 

"  Perhaps  he  thought  it  was  none  of  your  busi- 
ness, Edward,  my  dear,"  she  answered. 

"  Everything  connected  with  you  is  my  busi- 
ness," he  returned. 

"  Oh,  Edward,  what  a  dreary  outlook  for 
me!" 

"  Christine,  answer  me.  Did  or  did  not  this 
man  make  advances  to  you?  " 

"  Edward,  he  did." 

"What  happened?" 

"  He  gave  me  a  long,  tiresome,  moral  lecture 
and,  judging  by  you,  my  dear,  that  is  proof  of 
affection." 

1  You  're  simply  amusing  yourself  with  me !  " 

"  I  'm  not  amusing  myself  very  much,  Edward, 
if  that 's  any  comfort." 

"  You  drive  me  mad,"  he  said  and  stamped 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

away  from  her  so  hard,  that  Ussher  came  up  from 
the  cellar. 

"What's  Edward  doing?"  he  said. 

"  He  says  he  's  going  mad,"  returned  Christine, 
"  but  I  thought  he  was  washing  the  dishes." 

"  There  's  no  pleasing  Edward,"  said  Ussher. 
"  He  was  in  my  room  at  six  o'clock  this  morning 
trying  to  get  me  to  start  a  rescuing  party  (and 
I  need  n't  tell  you,  Christine,  we  none  of  us  had 
much  sleep  last  night),  and  now  that  he  is  here 
and  finds  you  safe,  he  seems  to  be  just  as  restless 
as  ever."  And  Ussher  returned  to  the  cellar  still 
grumbling. 

'  You  know  why  I  'm  restless,  Christine,"  Hick- 
son  said  when  they  were  again  alone. 
•  Christine   seemed  to   wonder.     "  The   artistic 
temperament  is  usually  given  as  the  explanation, 
but  somehow,  in  your  case,  Edward  — " 

He  came  and  stood  directly  in  front  of  her. 

"  Christine,  what  did  happen  last  night?  " 

Although  not  a  muscle  of  Miss  Fenimer's  face 
moved,  she  knew  very  well  that  this  was  a  turning- 
point.  She  had  the  choice  between  killing  the 
scandal,  or  giving  it  such  life  and  strength  that 

79 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

nothing  but  her  marriage  with  Riatt  would  ever 
allay  it.  She  knew  that  a  few  sensible  words 
would  put  Hickson  straight,  and  Hickson  would 
be  a  powerful  ally.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he 
came  back  plainly  weighted  with  a  terrible  doubt, 
no  one  would  ask  any  further  evidence.  The 
question  was,  how  much  would  Riatt  feel  the  re- 
sponsibility of  such  a  situation.  It  was  a  fighting 
chance.  Themistocles  when  he  burnt  his  ships 
must  have  argued  in  very  much  the  same  way, 
but  probably  not  so  rapidly. 

"  There  are  some  things,  Edward,"  Christine 
said  in  a  low  shaken  voice,  "  that  I  cannot  discuss 
even  with  you." 

Hickson  turned  away  with  a  groan. 


80 


CHAPTER  III 

/CHRISTINE  had  been  right  when  she  told 
V^4  Riatt  that  Nancy  Almar  would  be  resentful 
after  a  dull  evening  at  the  Usshers'. 

The  evening,  as  far  as  Nancy  was  concerned, 
had  been  very  dull  indeed.  To  be  bored,  in  her 
creed,  was  a  confession  of  complete  failure;  it 
indicated  the  most  contemptible  inefficiency,  since 
she  designed  the  whole  fabric  of  her  life  with  the 
unique  object  of  keeping  herself  amused.  Noth- 
ing bored  her  more  than  to  have  the  general  atten- 
tion centered  on  some  one  else,  as  all  that  eve- 
ning it  had  been  focussed  on  the  absent  ones. 
Not  only  did  she  miss  the  excitement  of  her  con- 
test with  Christine  over  the  possession  of  Riatt, 
but  she  was  positively  wearied  by  the  Usshers1 
anxiety,  by  her  brother's  agony  of  jealousy  and 
fear,  and  by  Wickham's  continual  effort  to  strike 
an  original  thought  from  the  dramatic  quality  of 
the  situation. 

She  was  finally  reduced  to  playing  piquet  with 
81 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Wickham,  and  though  she  won  a  good  deal  of 
money  from  him  —  more,  that  is,  than  he  could 
comfortably  afford  to  lose  —  she  still  counted  the 
evening  a  failure,  bad  in  the  present,  and  ex- 
tremely menacing  to  the  future.  For  with  her 
habitual  mental  candor,  she  admitted  that  by  this 
time  Christine,  if  not  actually  frozen  to  death  — 
which  after  all  one  could  not  exactly  hope  —  had 
probably  won  the  game.  The  chances  were  that 
Riatt  was  captured. 

"What  is  the  matter,  Ned?"  she  said  to  her 
brother,  as  he  fidgeted  about  the  card-table,  after 
a  last  futile  expedition  to  the  telephone.  "  Can't 
you  decide  whether  you  'd  rather  the  lady  of  your 
love  were  dead  or  subjected  for  twenty-four  hours 
to  the  fascinations  of  an  irresistible  young  man?  " 

"  What  an  interesting  question  that  raises,"  ob- 
served Wickham,  examining  rather  ruefully  the 
three  meager  cards  he  had  drawn.  "  A  modern 
Lady-or-the-Tiger  idea.  I  am  not  of  a  jealous 
temperament  and  should  always  prefer  to  see  a 
woman  happy  with  another  man." 

"  And  often  do,  I  dare  say,"  said  Nancy.  "  I 
have  a  point  of  seven,  and  fourteen  aces." 

82 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  I  must  own  I  can't  see  Riatt's  irresistible  qual- 
ity," said  Hickson  irritably. 

"  Rich,  nice-looking  and  has  his  wits  about 
him,"  replied  Mrs.  Almar  succinctly. 

"  About  as  good-looking  as  a  fence-rail." 

"  And  they  say  women  are  envious !  "  exclaimed 
his  sister. 

"Are  you  a  feminist,  Mrs.  Almar?"  inquired 
the  irrepressible  Wickham. 

"  No,  just  a  female,  Mr.  Wickham." 

"  I  never  thought  a  big  bony  nose  made  a  man 
a  beauty,"  grumbled  Hickson. 

"  Ah,  how  much  wisdom  there  is  in  that  reply 
of  yours,  Mrs.  Almar,"  said  Wickham.  "  Just 
a  female.  Your  meaning  is,  if  I  interpret  you 
rightly,  that  you  are  content  with  the  duties  and 
charms  which  Nature  has  bestowed  upon  your 
sex—" 

"Until  I  can  get  something  better,"  replied 
Nancy  briskly,  drawing  the  score  toward  her  and 
beginning  to  add  it  up.  "  My  idea  is  to  let  the 
other  women  do  the  fighting;  if  they  win,  I  shall 
profit;  if  they  lose,  I  'm  no  worse  off.  I  believe 
I  Ve  rubiconed  you  again,  Mr.  Wickham." 

83 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Well,  I  don't  understand  women's  taste,  any- 
how," said  Hickson. 

"  You  never  spoke  a  truer  word  than  that,  my 
dear,"  said  Nancy.  "  Seventy-four  fifty,  I  think 
that  makes  it,  Mr.  Wickham,  subtracting  the  dol- 
lar and  a  half  you  made  on  the  first  game.  Oh, 
yes,  a  check  will  do  perfectly.  I  'm  less  likely  to 
lose  it." 

"  I  never  had  a  worse  run  of  luck,"  observed 
Wickham  with  an  attempt  at  indifference. 

Mrs.  Almar  stood  up  yawning.  "  Doubtless 
you  are  on  the  brink  of  a  great  amorous  tri- 
umph," she  said  languidly,  and  went  off  to  bed. 

Hickson  did  not  attempt  to  sleep.  He  sat  up 
for  the  remainder  of  the  night,  in  the  hope  that 
some  sudden  call  might  come,  and  at  six  o'clock 
as  Ussher  had  told  Christine,  he  was  ready  for 
new  efforts. 

Rescued  and  rescuers  reached  the  Usshers' 
house  about  half  past  ten  the  following  morning. 
Nancy  was  not  yet  downstairs.  Wickham  had 
not  been  able  to  judge  what  was  the  correct  note 
to  strike  in  connection  with  the  whole  incident, 
and  so  did  not  dare  to  sound  any.  The  arrival 

84 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

was  comparatively  simple.  Mrs.  Ussher  re- 
ceived her  beloved  Christine  with  open  arms; 
Riatt  went  noncommittally  upstairs  to  take  a  bath; 
Hickson  had  decided,  in  spite  of  his  depression  of 
spirits,  to  try  to  make  up  a  little  of  last  night's 
lost  sleep,  when  he  received  a  summons  from  his 
sister.  Her  maid,  a  clever,  sallow  little  French- 
woman, came  down  with  her  hands  in  her  apron 
pockets  to  say  that  Madame  should  like  to  speak 
to  Monsieur  at  once. 

He  found  Nancy  still  in  bed;  her  little  black 
head  looking  blacker  than  usual  against  the  lace 
of  the  pillows  and  the  coverlet  and  of  her  own 
bed-jacket.  The  only  color  about  her  was  the 
yellow  covered  French  novel  she  laid  down  as  he 
entered,  and  the  one  enormous  ruby  on  her  fourth 
finger. 

"  And  now,  Ned,  my  dear,"  she  said  quite  af- 
fectionately for  her,  "  I  hear  you  have  brought 
the  wanderers  safely  home.  Tell  me  all  about 
it." 

Hickson,  to  whom  this  summons  had  not  come 
as  a  surprise,  had  resolved  that  he  would  confide 
none  of  his  anxieties  to  his  sister  but,  alas,  as 

85 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

well  might  a  pane  of  glass  resolve  to  be  opaque 
to  a  ray  of  sunlight.  Within  ten  minutes,  Nancy 
knew  not  only  all  that  he  knew,  but  such  addi- 
tional deductions  as  her  sharper  wits  enabled  her 
to  draw. 

"  I  see,"  she  murmured,  as  he  finished.  "  The 
only  positive  fact  that  we  have  is  that  he  did  not 
leave  the  house  until  after  five.  How  very  inter- 
esting! " 

"  Very  terrible,"  said  Hickson. 

"  Terrible,"  exclaimed  Nancy,  with  the  most 
genuine  surprise.  "  Not  at  all.  From  your 
point  of  view  most  encouraging.  It  can  mean 
only  one  thing.  The  young  man  very  prudently 
ran  away." 

Edward  was  really  stirred  to  anger.  "  Nancy," 
he  said,  "  how  do  you  dare,  even  in  fun — " 

"  Oh,  my  dear,"  answered  his  sister,  as  one 
wearied  by  all  the  folly  in  the  world,  "  how  can 
I  be  of  any  use  to  you  if  you  will  not  open  your 
eyes?  He  ran  away.  We  don't  know  of  course 
just  from  what;  but  we  do  know  this:  Max 
Riatt  is  the  best  match  that  has  yet  presented  him- 
self, and  that  Christine  is  the  last  girl  in  the  world 

86 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

to  ignore  that  simple  fact.  Come,  Ned,  even  if 
you  do  love  her,  you  may  as  well  admit  the  girl 
is  not  a  perfect  fool.  Fate,  accident,  or  possibly 
her  own  clever  maneuvering  put  the  game  into 
her  hands.  The  question  is,  how  did  she  play 
it?  I  know  what  I  'd  have  done,  but  I  don't 
believe  she  would.  I  think  she  probably  tried  to 
make  him  believe  that  she  was  hopelessly  com- 
promised in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  that  there 
was  no  course  open  to  an  honorable  man  but  to 
ask  her  to  marry  him." 

"  I  can't  imagine  Christine  playing  such  a 
part." 

"  I  tell  you,  you  never  do  the  poor  girl  justice. 
If  she  did  that  —  and  the  chances  are  she  did  — 
then  his  running  away  is  most  encouraging.  It 
means,  in  your  own  delightful  language,  that  he 
did  not  fall  for  it  —  did  not  want  to  run  any  risk 
of  compromising  her,  if  marriage  was  the  con- 
sequence." 

"  But,  Nancy,  Christine  almost  admitted  that 
—  that  he  tried  to  make  love  to  her." 

"  I  can't  see  what  that  has  to  do  with  it,  or 
what  difference  it  makes,"  replied  Mrs.  Almar. 

87 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  However,  too  much  importance  should  not  be 
attached  to  such  admissions.  I  have  sometimes 
made  them  myself  when  the  facts  did  not  bear  me 
out.  No  woman  likes  to  confess,  especially  to 
an  old  adorer  like  you,  that  she  has  spent  so 
many  hours  alone  with  a  man  and  he  has  not 
made  love  to  her." 

Hickson  shook  his  head.  "  I  'm  not  clever 
enough  to  be  able  to  explain  it,"  he  said,  "  but 
I  received  the  clearest  impression  from  her  that 
she  had  been  through  some  painful  experience." 

"  Good,"  said  Nancy.  "  Do  you  know  the 
most  painful  experience  she  could  have  been 
through?" 

"No,  what?" 

"  If  he  had  n't  paid  the  slightest  attention  to 
her;  and  that,  my  dear  brother,  is  what  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  took  place.  No,  the  game  is  still 
on ;  only  now  she  '11  have  the  Usshers  to  help  her. 
This  is  no  time  for  me  to  lie  in  bed." 

Ned  looked  at  her  doubtfully.  "  I  thought 
I  'd  try  and  sleep  a  little,"  he  said. 

"The  best  thing  you  can  do,"  she  returned. 
"  Lucie !  Lucie  1  Where  are  the  bells  in  this 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

house!  What  privations  one  suffers  for  staying 
away  from  home!  Oh,  yes,  here  it  is,"  and  she 
caught  the  atom  of  enamel  and  gold  dangling  at 
the  head  of  her  bed,  and  rang  it  without  ceasing 
until  the  maid,  who  regarded  her  mistress  with 
an  admiration  quite  untinctured  by  affection,  ap- 
peared silently  at  the  doorway. 

In  an  astonishingly  short  space  of  time,  she 
was  dressed  and  downstairs,  presenting  her  usual 
sleek  and  polished  appearance.  Wickham  was 
alone  in  the  drawing-room,  and  a  suggestion  that 
they  should  have  another  game  of  piquet  quickly 
drove  him  to  the  writing  of  some  purely  imagi- 
nary business  letters. 

The  coast  was  thus  clear,  but  Riatt  was  still 
absent. 

Nancy's  methods  were  nothing  if  not  direct. 
She  rang  the  bell  and  when  the  butler  appeared 
she  said: 

"Where  is  Mr.  Riatt?" 

"  In  his  room,  madam." 

"  Dressing?  " 

"  No,  madam,  he  is  dressed.  Resting,  I  should 
say." 

89 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Nancy  nodded  her  head  once.  "  One  mo- 
ment," she  said;  and  going  to  the  writing  table 
she  sat  down  and  wrote  quickly: 

"  I  should  like  five  minutes'  conversation  with 
you.  Strange  to  say  my  motive  is  altruistic  — 
so  altruistic  that  I  feel  I  should  sign  myself  *  Pro 
Bono  Publico,'  instead  of  Nancy  Almar.  There 
is  no  one  down  here  in  the  drawing-room  at  the 
moment." 

She  put  this  in  an  envelope,  sealed  it  with  seal- 
ing wax  (to  the  disgust  of  the  butler  who  found 
it  hard  enough,  as  it  was,  to  keep  up  with  all 
that  went  on  in  the  house)  and  told  the  man  to 
send  it  at  once  to  Mr.  Riatt's  room. 

She  did  not  have  long  to  wait.  Riatt,  with  all 
the  satisfaction  in  his  bearing  of  one  who  has 
just  bathed,  shaved  and  eaten,  came  down  to  her 
at  once. 

"  Good  morning,  Pro  Bono  Publico,"  he  said, 
just  glancing  about  to  be  sure  he  was  not  over- 
heard. "  It  was  not  necessary  to  put  this  inter- 
view on  an  altruistic  basis.  I  should  have  been 

90 


Isn't  that  rather  a  reckless  way  for  a  man  in  your  situation  to  talk  ?  " 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

glad  to  come  to  it,  even  if  it  had  been  as  a  favor 
to  you." 

She  looked  at  him  with  her  hard,  dark  eyes. 
"  Is  n't  that  rather  a  reckless  way  for  a  man  in 
your  situation  to  talk?  " 

"  I  was  not  aware  that  I  was  in  a  situation." 

This  was  exactly  the  expression  that  she  had 
wanted  from  him.  It  seemed  to  come  spontane- 
ously, and  could  only  mean  that  at  least  he  was 
not  newly  engaged. 

She  relaxed  the  tension  of  her  attitude.  "  Are 
you  really  under  the  impression  that  you  're 
not?" 

"  I  feel  quite  sure  of  it." 

"  You  poor,  dear,  innocent  creature." 

"  However,"  he  went  on,  sitting  down  beside 
her  on  the  wide,  low  sofa,  "  something  tells  me 
that  I  shall  enjoy  extremely  having  you  tell  me 
all  about  it." 

Tucking  one  foot  under  her,  as  every  girl  is 
taught  in  the  school-room  it  is  most  unladylike  to 
do,  she  turned  and  faced  him.  "  Mr.  Riatt,"  she 
said,  "  when  I  was  a  child  I  used  to  let  the  mice 
out  of  the  traps  —  not  so  much,  I  'm  afraid,  from 

93 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

tenderness  for  the  mice,  as  from  dislike  of  my 
natural  enemy,  the  cook.  Since  then  I  have  never 
been  able  to  see  a  mouse  in  anybody's  trap  but  my 
own,  without  a  desire  to  release  it." 

"  And  I  am  the  mouse?  " 

She  nodded.  "  And  in  rather  a  dangerous  sort 
of  trap,  too." 

He  smiled  at  the  seriousness  of  her  tone. 

"  Ah,"  said  she,  "  the  self-confidence  which 
your  smile  betrays  is  one  of  the  weaknesses  by 
which  nature  has  delivered  your  sex  into  the  hands 
of  mine.  I  would  explain  it  to  you  at  length,  but 
the  time  is  too  short.  The  great  offensive  may 
begin  at  any  moment.  The  Usshers  have  made 
up  their  minds  that  you  are  to  marry  Christine 
Fenimer.  That  was  why  you  were  asked  here." 

"  Innocent  Westerner  as  I  am,"  he  answered, 
"  that  idea  — " 

She  interrupted  him.  "  Yes,  but  don't  you  see 
it 's  entirely  different  now.  Now  they  really  have 
a  sort  of  hold  on  you.  I  don't  know  what  Chris- 
tine's own  attitude  may  be,  but  I  can  tell  you 
this:  her  position  was  so  difficult  that  she  was  on 
the  point  of  engaging  herself  to  Ned." 

94 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Oh,  come,"  said  Riatt  politely,  "  your  brother 
is  not  so  bad  as  you  seem  to  think." 

"  He  's  not  bad  at  all,  poor  dear.  He  's  very 
good;  but  women  do  not  fall  in  love  with  him. 
You,  on  the  contrary,  are  rich  and  attractive. 
You  '11  just  have  to  take  my  word  for  that,"  she 
added  without  a  trace  of  coquetry.  "  And  so  — 
and  so  —  and  so,  if  I  were  you,  my  dear  Cousin 
Max,  I  should  give  orders  to  have  my  bag  packed 
at  once,  and  take  a  very  slow,  tiresome  train  that 
leaves  here  at  twelve-forty-something,  and  not 
even  wait  for  the  afternoon  express." 

There  was  that  in  her  tone  that  would  have 
made  the  blood  of  any  man  run  cold  with  terror, 
but  he  managed  a  smile.  "  In  my  place  you 
would  run  away?  "  he  said. 

She  shook  her  head.  "  No,  I  would  n't  run 
away  myself,  but  I  advise  you  to.  I  shouldn't 
be  in  any  danger.  Being  a  mere  woman,  I  can 
be  cruel,  cold  and  selfish  when  the  occasion  de- 
mands. But  this  is  a  situation  that  requires  all 
the  qualities  a  man  does  n't  possess." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"  Does   your   heart   become    harder   when    a 

95 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

pretty  woman  cries  ?  Is  your  conscience  unmoved 
by  the  responsibility  of  some  one  else's  unhappi- 
ness?  Can  you  be  made  love  to  without  a  haunt- 
ing suspicion  that  you  brought  it  on  your- 
self?" 

"  Good  heavens,  no !  "  cried  Riatt  from  the 
heart. 

"  Then,  run  while  there  's  time." 

As  the  ox  fears  the  gad-fly  and  the  elephant  the 
mouse,  so  does  the  bravest  of  men  fear  the  emo- 
tional entanglement  of  any  making  but  his  own. 
For  an  instant  Riatt  felt  himself  swept  by  the 
frankest,  wildest  panic.  Misadventures  among 
the  clouds  he  had  had  many  times,  and  had  looked 
a  clean  straight  death  in  the  face.  He  had  never 
felt  anything  like  the  terror  that  for  an  instant 
possessed  him.  Then  it  passed  and  he  said  with 
conviction : 

"  Well,  after  all,  there  are  certain  things  you 
can't  be  made  to  do  against  your  will." 

"  Certainly.  But  you  are  not  referring  to  mar- 
riage, are  you?  " 

"  Yes,  I  was." 

"My  poor,  dear  man!     As  if  half  the  mar- 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

riages  in  the  world  were  not  made  against  the 
wish  of  one  party  or  the  other." 

His  heart  sank.  "  It  Js  perfectly  true,"  he 
said.  "  And  yet  one  does  rather  hate  to  run 
away." 

"  Not  so  much  as  one  hates  afterward  to  think 
one  might  have." 

He  laughed  and  she  went  on :  "  The  moment 
is  critical.  Laura  Ussher  and  Christine  have 
been  closeted  together  for  the  better  part  of  two 
hours.  Something  is  going  to  happen  immedi- 
ately. At  any  moment  Laura  may  appear  and 
say  with  that  wonderfully  casual  manner  of  hers, 
*  May  I  have  a  word  with  you,  Max?'  And 
then  you  '11  be  lost." 

"  Oh,  not  quite  as  bad  as  that,  I  hope,"  said 
Riatt. 

"  Lost,"  she  repeated,  and  leaning  over  she 
laid  one  polished  finger  tip  on  the  bell.  "  When, 
the  man  comes,  tell  him  to  get  you  ready  for  that 
early  train." 

There  was  complete  silence  between  them  until 
the  footman  appeared  and  Riatt  had  given  the 
necessary  orders. 

97 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

u  I  wonder/*  he  said  when  they  were  again 
alone,  "  whether  I  shall  be  angry  at  you  for  this 
advice,  or  grateful.  It 's  a  dangerous  thing,  you 
know,  to  advise  a  man  to  run  away." 

"  Dine  with  me  in  town  on  Wednesday,  and  you 
can  tell  me  which  it  is." 

"  You  don't  seem  to  be  much  afraid  of  my 
anger." 

"  I  think  perhaps  your  gratitude  might  be  the 
more  dangerous  of  the  two;" 

While  he  was  struggling  between  a  new-found 
prudence,  and  a  natural  desire  to  inquire  further 
into  her  meaning,  a  door  upstairs  was  heard  to 
shut,  and  presently  Laura  Ussher  came  sauntering 
into  the  room. 

"  You  're  up  early,  Nancy,"  she  said  pleas- 
antly. 

"  I  thought  I  ought  to  recognize  the  return  of 
the  wanderers  in  some  way  —  particularly,  as  I 
hear  we  are  to  lose  one  of  them  so  soon." 

Mrs.  Ussher  glanced  quickly  at  her  cousin. 
"  Are  you  leaving  us,  Max?  " 

"  I  'm  sorry  to  say  I  Ve  just  had  word  that  I 
must,  and  I  told  the  man  to  make  arrangements 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

for   me   to    get   that   twelve-something-or-other 


train." 


Mrs.  Ussher  did  not  change  a  muscle.  "  I  'm 
sorry  you  have  to  go,"  she  said.  "  We  shall  all 
miss  you.  By  the  way,  you  won't  be  able  to  get 
anything  before  the  four-eighteen.  That  midday 
train  is  taken  off  in  winter.  Did  n't  the  footman 
tell  you  ?  Stupid  young  man ;  but  he  's  new  and 
has  not  learnt  the  trains  yet,  I  suppose.  Do  you 
want  to  send  a  telegram?  They  have  to  be  tele- 
phoned here,  but  if  you  write  it  out  I  '11  have  it 
sent  for  you." 

"  How  wonderful  you  are,  Laura,"  murmured 
Mrs.  Almar. 

Mrs.  Ussher  looked  vague.  "  In  what  way, 
dear?" 

"  In  all  ways,  but  I  think  it 's  as  a  friend  that 
I  admire  you  most." 

Mrs.  Ussher  smiled.  "  Yes,"  she  said,  "  I  'm 
very  devoted  to  my  friends  even  when  they  don't 
behave  quite  fairly  to  me.  But  I  love  my  rela- 
tions, too,"  she  added.  "  Max,  since  I  'm  to  lose 
you  so  soon,  I  'd  like  to  have  a  talk  with  you 
before  lunch.  Shall  we  go  to  my  little  study?  " 

99 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Nancy's  eyes  danced.  "  No,  Laura,"  she  said, 
"  he  will  not.  He  has  just  promised  to  teach 
me  a  new  solitaire,  and  I  won't  yield  him  to  any 


one." 


Riatt,  terrified  at  this  proof  that  Nancy's  proph- 
ecy was  coming  true,  resolved  to  cling  to  her. 

"  Sit  down  and  learn  the  game,  too,  Laura," 
he  said.  "  It 's  a  very  good  one." 

"  I  want  to  speak  to  you  about  a  business  mat- 
ter, Max." 

"  I  never  attend  to  business  during  church 
hours,  Laura,"  he  answered.  "  We  '11  talk  about 
it  after  lunch,  if  you  like." 

Laura  had  learnt  the  art  of  yielding  gracefully. 
"  That  will  do  just  as  well,"  she  said,  and  sat 
down  to  watch  the  game. 

Presently  Wickham,  seeing  that  Mrs.  Almar 
seemed  to  be  safely  engaged,  ventured  back.  And 
they  were  all  thus  innocently  occupied  when  lunch- 
eon was  announced. 

Christine  came  down  looking  particularly 
lovely.  It  is  a  precaution  which  a  good-looking 
woman  rarely  fails  to  take  in  a  crisis.  She  was 
wearing  a  deep  blue  dress  trimmed  with  fur,  and 

IOO 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

only  needed  a  solid  gold  halo  behind  her  head 
to  make  her  look  like  a  Byzantine  saint. 

"  Well,  Miss  Fenimer,"  said  Wickham,  as  they 
sat  down.  "  You  look  very  blooming  after  your 
terrible  experiences." 

Christine  had  come  prepared  for  battle. 
"  Oh,  they  were  n't  so  very  terrible,  Mr.  Wick- 
ham,  thank  you,"  she  said,  and  she  leant  her 
elbow  on  the  table  and  played  with  those  imita- 
tion pearls  which  she  now  hoped  so  soon  to  give 
to  her  maid.  "  Mr.  Riatt  is  the  most  wonderful 
provider  —  expert  as  a  cook  as  well  as  a  furnace- 


man." 


"  It  may  n't  have  been  terrible  for  you,"  put 
in  Ussher,  who  had  a  habit  of  conversational 
reversion,  "  but  I  bet  it  was  no  joke  in  the  tool- 
house  1  How  an  intelligent  woman  like  you, 
Christine,  could  dream  of  making  a  man  spend 
the  night  in  that  hole,  just  for  the  sake 
of—" 

"  But  I  thought  it  was  Mr.  Riatt's  own  choice," 
said  Nancy  gently. 

"  You  would  n't  think  so  if  you  could  have  felt 
the  place,"  Ussher  continued.  "  And  what  dif- 

101 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

ference  did  it  make?  Who  was  there  to  talk? 
Every  one  knows  that  their  being  there  was  just 
an  unavoidable  accident — " 

"  Oh,  if  it  had  been  an  accident !  "  said  Nancy, 
and  it  was  as  if  a  little  venomous  snake  had 
suddenly  wriggled  itself  into  the  conversation. 
Every  one  turned  toward  her,  and  her  brother 
asked  sternly: 

"If,  it  had  been  an  accident,  Nancy?  What 
the  deuce  do  you  mean  by  if?" 

Nancy  shook  her  small  head.  "  I  express  my- 
self badly,"  she  said.  "  English  rhetoric  was  left 
out  of  my  education." 

"  You  manage  to  convey  your  ideas,  dear," 
said  Laura. 

"  I  was  trying  to  say  that  if  poor,  dear  Chris- 
tine had  not  been  so  unfortunately  the  one  to  hit 
the  horse  in  the  head,  and  start  him  off  — " 

Wickham  pricked  up  his  ears.  "  Oh,  I  say, 
Miss  Fenimer,"  he  exclaimed,  "  did  you  really 
hit  the  horse?" 

"  Certainly,  I  did,  Mr.  Wickham." 

"  But  what  did  you  do  that  for?  " 

Christine  did  not  trouble  to  answer  this  ques- 
102 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

tion.  Hickson,  who  had  been  suffering  far  more 
than  any  one,  rushed  to  the  rescue. 

"  Miss  Fenimer  did  not  do  it  on  purpose, 
Wickham.  She  happened  to  be  standing — " 

"Oh,  is  that  what  your  sister  meant?"  said 
Christine,  as  if  a  sudden  light  dawned  on  her. 
"  Tell  me,  Nancy  darling,  do  you  really  think  I 
hit  the  horse  on  purpose,  so  as  to  have  an  uninter- 
rupted evening  with  Mr.  Riatt?  How  you  do 
flatter  men !  It 's  a  great  art.  I  'm  afraid  I 
shall  never  learn  it." 

For  the  first  time,  Riatt  found  himself  looking 
at  her  with  a  certain  amount  of  genuine  admira- 
tion. This  was  very  straight  fighting.  "  They 
have  the  piratical  virtues,"  he  thought,  "  courage, 
and  the  ability  to  give  and  take  hard  blows." 

Mrs.  Almar  was  not  to  be  outdone.  "  Well," 
she  said,  "  I  may  as  well  be  honest.  I  can 
imagine  myself  doing  it,  for  the  right  man.  And 
we  should  have  had  an  amusing  evening  of  it, 
which  was  more  than  we  had  here,  I  can  tell  you. 
We  were  very  dreary.  Mr.  Wickham  tried  to 
relieve  the  monotony  by  a  game  of  piquet,  but 
I  'm  afraid  he  did  not  really  enjoy  it,  for  he  has 

103 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

not  asked  me  to  play  since."  And  she  cast  a  quick, 
stimulating  glance  at  Wickham,  whose  usual  in- 
ability to  say  nothing  again  betrayed  him. 

"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  I  enjoyed  our  game  im- 
mensely." 

"  Good,"  answered  Nancy.  "  We  '11  have  an- 
other this  afternoon  then." 

u  Indeed,  yes,"  said  Wickham,  looking  rather 
wan. 

"  After  Mr.  Riatt  has  gone,"  said  Nancy  dis- 
tinctly. She  knew  that  Laura  had  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  convey  this  intelligence  to  Christine,  and 
it  amused  her  to  see  how  she  would  support  the 
blow.  Christine's  expression  did  not  change,  but 
her  blue  eyes  grew  suddenly  a  little  darker.  She 
turned  slowly  toward  Riatt. 

"  And  are  you  leaving  us?  "  she  asked. 

"  Sorry  to  say  I  am." 

"What  a  bore,"  said  Miss  Fenimer  politely. 
Hickson's  simple  heart  bounded  for  joy.  "  She  's 
refused  him,"  he  thought,  "  and  that 's  why  he  's 
rushing  off  like  this." 

"  Yes,"  said  Ussher,  "  I  should  think  he  would 
want  to  go  home  and  take  some  care  of  himself. 

104 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

It 's    a    wonder    if    he    does  n't    develop    pneu- 


monia." 


Christine  smiled  at  Riatt  across  the  table. 
"  They  make  me  feel  as  if  I  had  been  very  cruel, 
Mr.  Riatt,"  she  said. 

"  Cruel,  my  dear,"  cried  Nancy.  "  Oh,  I  'm 
sure  you  were  n't  that"  and  then  intoxicated  by 
her  own  success,  she  made  her  first  tactical  error. 
She  turned  to  Riatt  and  said:  "Don't  forget 
that  you  are  dining  with  me  on  Wednesday  eve- 
ning." She  enjoyed  this  exhibition  of  power. 
She  saw  Laura  and  Christine  glance  at  each  other. 
But  they  were  not  dismayed;  they  saw  at  once  that 
Max  had  not  been  playing  his  hand  alone;  he  was 
going  not  entirely  on  his  own  initiative,  and  that 
was  encouraging. 

Riatt,  who  perfectly  understood  the  public  pro- 
tectorate that  was  thus  established  over  him,  re- 
sented it;  in  fact  by  the  time  they  rose  from  the 
table,  he  was  thoroughly  disgusted  with  all  of 
them  —  weary,  as  he  said  to  himself  of  their 
hideous  little  games.  He  hardened  his  heart  even 
as  Pharaoh  did,  and  he  felt  not  the  least  hesita- 
tion in  according  Laura  the  promised  interview, 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

for  the  reason  that  he  felt  no  doubt  of  his  own 
powers  of  resistance. 

He  permitted  himself  to  be  ostentatiously  led 
away,  upstairs  to  her  little  private  sitting-room, 
with  its  books,  and  fireplace,  and  signed  photo- 
graphs, and  he  pretended  not  to  see  Nancy 
Almar's  glance,  which  was  almost  a  wink,  and 
might  have  been  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  she 
herself  was  at  the  same  moment  gently  guiding 
Wickham  in  the  direction  of  a  card-table. 

Laura  made  her  cousin  very  comfortable,  in  a 
long  chair  by  the  fire,  with  his  cigarettes  and  his 
coffee  beside  him  on  a  little  table,  and  then  she 
began  murmuring: 

"  Is  n't  it  a  pity  Nancy  Almar  is  so  poisonous 
at  times !  She  is  n't  really  bad  hearted,  but  any- 
thing connected  with  Christine  has  always  roused 
her  jealousy  —  the  old  beauty  and  the  new  one, 
I  suppose." 

"  I  wonder,"  said  Riatt,  "  what  is  the  differ- 
ence, if  any,  between  a  pirate  and  a  bucaneer? 
Miss  Fenimer  and  Mrs.  Almar  seem  to  me  to 
have  many  qualities  in  common." 

"  Oh,  Max,  how  can  you  say  that?  Christine 
106 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

is  so  much  more  gentle  and  womanly,  so  much  — " 
"  My  dear  Laura,  we  have  n't  very  much  time, 
and  I  think  you  said  you  wanted  to  talk  to  me  on 
a  business  matter." 

Laura  Ussher  had  the  grace  to  hesitate,  just 
an  instant,  before  she  answered:  "  Oh,  yes,  but 
it 's  your  business  I  want  to  talk  about.  I  want 
to  speak  to  you  about  this  terrible  situation  in 
which  Christine  finds  herself.  Do  you  realize 
that  Nancy  and  Wickham  between  them  will 
spread  this  story  everywhere,  with  all  the  embel- 
lishments their  fancy  may  dictate,  particularly  em- 
phasizing the  fact  that  it  was  Christine  who  made 
the  horse  run  away.  It  will  be  in  the  papers 
within  a  week.  You  know,  Max,  just  as  well  as 
I  do,  that  it  was  n't  her  fault.  Is  she  to  be  so 
cruelly  punished  for  it?  Can  you  permit  that?  " 
"  It 's  not  my  fault  either,  Laura." 
"  You  can  so  easily  save  the  situation." 
"How?" 

"  By  asking  her  to  marry  you." 
"  That  I  will  not  do." 
"  Are  you  involved  with  some  one  else?  " 
"  I  might  make  you  understand  better  if  I  said 
107 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

yes,  but  it  would  not  be  true.  I  'm  not  in  love 
with  any  individual,  but  I  know  clearly  the  type 
of  woman  I  could  fall  in  love  with,  and  it  most 
emphatically  is  not  Miss  Fenimer's." 

"  Yet  so  many  men  have  fallen  in  love  with 
her." 

"  Oh,  I  see  her  beauty;  I  even  feel  her  charm; 
but  to  marry  her,  no." 

"Think  of  the  prestige  her  beauty  and  posi- 


tion—" 


"  My  dear  Laura,  what  position?  Social  posi- 
tion as  represented  by  the  hectic  triviality  of  the 
last  few  days?  Thank  you,  no,  again." 

"  Dear  Max,"  said  his  cousin  more  seriously 
than  she  had  hitherto  spoken,  "  you  know  I  would 
not  want  you  to  do  anything  that  I  thought  would 
make  you  unhappy.  But  this  would  n't.  I  know 
Christine  better  than  you  do.  I  know  that  under 
all  her  worldliness  and  hardness  there  is  a  vein 
of  devotion  and  sweetness — " 

"  Very  likely  there  is.  But  it  would  not  be 
brought  out  by  a  mercenary  marriage  with  a  man 
who  cared  nothing  for  her.  If  that  is  all  you 
have  to  say,  Laura,  let 's  end  an  interview  which 

108 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

has  n't   been   very   pleasant   for   either   of   us." 

"  Oh,  Max,  how  can  you  abandon  that  lovely 
creature  to  some  tragic  future?  " 

"  You  know  quite  well  she  is  going  to  do  noth- 
ing more  tragic  than  to  marry  Hickson." 

"  And  you  are  willing  to  sacrifice  her  to  Hick- 
son?" 

"  My  dear  Laura,  I  cannot  prevent  all  the 
beautiful,  dissatisfied  women  in  the  world  from 
marrying  dull,  kind-hearted  young  men  who  adore 
them." 

Mrs.  Ussher  stared  at  him  in  baffled,  unhappy 
silence,  and  in  the  pause,  the  door  quickly  and 
silently  opened  and  Christine  herself  entered. 
She  looked  calm,  almost  Olympian,  as  she  laid  her 
hand  on  Laura's  arm. 

"  Let  me  have  just  a  word  alone  with  Mr. 
Riatt,"  she  said;  and  as  Laura  precipitately  left 
the  room,  Christine  turned  to  Riatt  with  a  reas- 
suring smile.  "  Don't  be  alarmed,"  she  said. 
"  Your  most  dangerous  antagonist  has  just  gone. 
I  Ve  really  come  to  rescue  you."  She  sank  into 
a  chair.  "  How  exhausting  scenes  are.  Let  me 
have  a  cigarette,  will  you?" 

109 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

She  smoked  a  moment  in  silence,  while  he  stood 
erect  and  alert  by  the  mantel-piece.  At  last, 
glancing  up  at  him,  she  said: 

"  I  suppose  Laura  was  suggesting  that  you 
marry  me?  " 

He  nodded. 

"  Laura  Js  a  dear,  but  not  always  very  wise. 
You  see,  she  thinks  we  are  both  so  wonderful,  she 
can't  believe  we  would  n't  make  each  other  happy. 
And  from  her  point  of  view,  it  is  rather  an  obvi- 
ous solution.  You  see,  she  does  not  know  about 
that  paragon  in  the  Middle  West." 

"  She  existed  only  in  my  imagination." 

"  Oh,  a  dream-lady,"  said  Christine,  and  her 
eyes'  brightened  a  little.  "  No  wonder  you 
thought  her  too  good  for  Ned.  Well,  that  brings 
me  to  what  I  came  to  tell  you.  I  have  decided 
to  marry  Edward  Hickson." 

There  was  a  blank  and  rather  flat  pause,  during 
which  Riatt  took  his  cigarette  from  his  mouth  and 
very  carefully  studied  the  ash,  but  could  think  of 
nothing  to  say.  The  thought  in  his  mind  was  that 
Hickson  was  a  dull  dog. 

no 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Have  you  told  Hickson?  "  he  asked  after  a 
moment. 

She  shook  her  head.  "  No,  and  I  sha'n't  till 
I  get  more  accustomed  to  the  idea  myself.  It 
isn't  exactly  an  easy  idea  to  get  accustomed  to. 
The  prospect  is  not  lively." 

"  I  dare  say  you  will  contrive  to  make  it  as 
lively  as  possible." 

She  smiled  drearily.  "  How  very  poorly  you 
do  think  of  me !  I  sha'n't  make  Ned  a  bad  wife. 
He  will  be  very  happy,  and  Nancy  and  I  will 
be  like  sisters.  By  the  way,  you  're  not  in  love 
with  Nancy,  are  you?  " 

"  Certainly  not." 

"  Good.     They  all  say  it 's  a  dog's  life."     She 
yawned.     "  Oh,   is  n't  everything  tiresome !     If 
I  had  had  any  idea  my  filial  deed  in  going  to  find  * 
my  father's  coat  would  have  resulted  in  my  hav- 
ing to  marry  Ned,  I  never  would  have  gone." 

Riatt  struggled  in  silence.  He  wanted  —  any 
man  would  have  wanted  —  to  ask  her  whether 
there  wasn't  some  other  way  out;  but  knowing 
that  he  himself  was  the  only  other  way,  he  re- 

iii 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

frained  and  asked  instead:  "Is  there  anything 
I  can  do  to  help  you?" 

"  There  is,"  she  responded  promptly. 
"  Rather  a  disagreeable  thing,  too.  But  it  will  be 
all  over  in  an  instant,  and  you  can  take  your  after- 
noon train  and  forget  all  about  us.  Will  you  do 
it?" 

He  hesitated,  and  she  went  on: 

"  Ah,  cautious  to  the  last !  It 's  just  a  demon- 
stration, a  beau  geste.  It  Js  this :  J[ou  see,  the 
situation,  as  I  have  discovered  from  a  little  talk 
with  Ned,  is  more  ugly  than  has  yet  appeared. 
They  are  holding  one  thing  up  their  sleeve.  Ned, 
it  seems,  noticed  the  track  of  your  feet  leaving 
the  house,  and  it  did  not  stop  snowing  until  the 
morning.  That  was  rather  careless  of  you, 
was  n't  it?  Nancy  can  make  a  good  deal  of  that 
one  little  fact." 

"  What  people  you  are !  " 

"  Rather  horrid,  are  n't  we?  Did  Laura  keep 
telling  you  what  a  wonderful  advantage  it  would 
be  for  you  to  be  one  of  us?  I  wish  I  could  have 
seen  your  face." 

"  Yes,  she  did  say  something  of  the  advantages 
112 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

of  belonging  to  a  group  like  this.  Do  you  know 
what  any  man  who  married  you  ought  to  do  with 
you,"  he  added  with  sudden  vigor.  "  He  ought 
to  take  you  to  the  smallest,  ugliest,  deadest 
town  he  could  find  and  keep  you  there  five 
years." 

"  Thank  you,"  she  said.  "  You  have  achieved 
the  impossible.  You  have  made  Ned  seem  quite 
exciting.  Hitherto  I  have  taken  New  York  for 
granted,  but  now  I  shall  add  it  to  his  positive 
advantages.  But  you  have  n't  heard  yet  what  it 
is  I  want  you  to  do." 

"What  is  it?" 

"  I  want  you  to  make  me  a  well  authenticated 
offer  of  marriage  before  you  go  for  good." 

"  Miss  Fenimer,  I  have  the  honor  to  ask  you 
to  marry  me." 

"  I  regret  so  much,  Mr.  Riatt,  that  a  previous 
attachment  prevents  my  accepting  —  but,  my  dear 
man,  thaft  is  n't  at  all  what  I  mean.  Do  you  sup- 
pose Wickham  and  Nancy  will  believe  me  just 
because  I  walk  out  of  this  room  and  say  you  asked 
me  to  marry  you  ?  No,  we  must  have  some  proof 
to  offer." 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Something  in  writing?  " 

She  hesitated. 

"  No,"  she  said,  "  one  really  can't  go  about 
with  a  framed  proposal  like  a  college  degree.  I 
want  a  public  demonstration." 

"  Something  with  a  band  or  a  phonograph?  " 

She  was  evidently  thinking  it  out  —  or  wished 
to  appear  to  be.  "  Not  quite  that  either.  This 
would  be  more  like  it.  Suppose  I  send  for  Nancy 
to  come  here  now  and  consult  with  me  as  to 
whether  I  shall  accept  your  offer  or  not.  If  I 
told  her  before  you,  she  could  hardly  refuse  to 
believe  it.  And  you  would  be  safe,  for  there 
is  n't  the  least  doubt  what  advice  she  will  give 


me." 


u  You  think  she  will  advise  you  against  me?  " 

Christine  nodded.     "  She  will  try  to  save  you 

from  the   awful  fate   she   is  reserving  for  her 

brother."     She  touched  the  bell.     "  Do  you  feel 

nervous?  " 

"  A  trifle,"  he  answered,  and  indeed  he  did, 
for  he  knew  better  than  Christine  could,  how 
strange  this  coming  interview  would  appear  to 
Mrs.  Almar  after  the  conversation  before  lunch. 

114 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

He  consoled  himself,  however,  by  the  thought  that 
train-time  was  drawing  near,  "  and  then,  please 
heaven,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  I  need  never  see 
any  of  them  again." 

"Isn't  it  strange,"  began  Miss  Fenimer,  and 
then  as  a  servant  appeared  in  the  doorway: 
"  Oh,  will  you  please  ask  Mrs.  Almar  to  come 
here  for  a  few  minutes  and  speak  to  me.  Tell 
her  it  is  very  important.  Is  n't  it  strange,"  she 
went  on,  when  the  man  had  gone,  "  that  I  'm  not 
a  bit  nervous,  and  yet  I  have  so  much  more  at 
stake  than  you  have." 

*  You  have  a  good  deal  clearer  notion  of  your 
role  than  I." 

"  Your  role  is  easy.  You  confirm  everything 
I  say,  and  contrive  to  look  a  little  depressed  at 
the  end.  Nothing  could  be  simpler." 

He  hesitated.  "  Simpler  than  to  look  de- 
pressed when  you  refuse  me?  " 

"  No  one  really  likes  to  be  refused,"  she  said. 
"  Even  I,  hardened  as  I  am,  felt  a  certain  distaste 
for  the  idea  that  Laura  had  been  urging  me  on 
your  reluctant  acceptance.  By  the  way,  you  did 
seem  able  to  say  no,  after  all  your  talk  on  our 

"5 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

unfortunate  drive  about  no  man's  being  able  to 
refuse  a  woman." 

"  Oh,  a  third  party,"  he  answered.  "  That 's 
a  very  different  thing.  Had  it  been  you  yourself, 
with  streaming  eyes — "  He  looked  at  her  sit- 
ting very  cool  and  straight  at  a  safe  distance. 

"  I  don't  think  I  could  cry  to  save  my  life,"  she 
observed.  "  Certainly  not  to  save  my  reputa- 
tion." 

He  did  not  answer.  The  situation  had  begun 
to  seem  like  a  game  to  him,  or  some  absurd  farce 
in  which  he  was  only  reading  some  regular  actor's 
part;  and  when  presently  the  door  opened  to 
admit  Mrs.  Almar,  he  felt  as  if  she  had  been 
waiting  all  the  time  in  the  wings. 

Nancy  stopped  with  a  gesture  of  surprise,  on 
finding  that  she  was  interrupting  a  •  tete-a-tete. 
Christine  ignored  her  astonishment. 

"  Nancy  dear,"  she  said.  "  How  nice  of  you 
to  come,  when  I  know  how  busy  you  were  teaching 
Wickham  piquet.  Sit  down.  This  is  the  reason 
I  sent  for  you.  As  one  of  my  best  friends,  I  want 
your  candid  advice  about  this  horrid  situa- 


tion." 


116 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  But  Laura  is  one  of  your  best  friends,  too," 
said  Mrs.  Almar. 

"  You  '11  see  why  I  did  not  send  for  Laura. 
She  is  so  ridiculously  prejudiced  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Riatt.  There  's  no  question  as  to  what  her  ad- 
vice would  be.  In  fact,"  said  Christine  with  the 
frankest  laugh,  "  she  's  advised  it  long  ago  — 
even  before  he  asked  me." 

At  these  sinister  words,  Mrs.  Almar  gave  a 
glance  like  the  jab  of  a  knife  at  Riatt. 

"  See  here,  Christine,"  she  said,  "  every  min- 
ute I  spend  here  is  a  direct  pecuniary  loss  to  me. 
Let 's  get  to  the  point." 

"  Of  course.  How  selfish  I  am,"  answered 
Miss  Fenimer.  "  The  point  is  this.  In  view  of 
the  gossip  and  talk,  and  your  own  dear  little  sug- 
gestion, darling,  that  I  had  frightened  the  horse 
on  purpose,  Mr.  Riatt  has  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  ask  me  to  marry  him.  I  say  he  has 
thought  it  necessary,  because  in  spite  of  all  his 
flattering  protestations,  I  can't  help  feeling  that 
he  's  done  it  from  a  sense  of  duty.  But  whatever 
his  sentiments  may  be,  I  Ve  been  quite  open  about 
mine.  I  'm  not  in  love  with  him.  In  view  of  all 

117 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

this,  Nancy,  do  you  think  it  advisable  that  I  accept 
his  offer?  " 

Mrs.  Almar  had  never  been  considered  partic- 
ularly good-tempered.  Now  she  jumped  to  her 
feet  with  her  eyes  positively  blazing.  "  Have  I 
been  called  away  from  the  care  of  my  depleted 
bank  account  to  take  part  in  a  farce  like  this?  " 
she  cried.  "  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  your- 
self, Christine.  You  know  just  as  well  as  I  do 
that  that  young  man  never  even  thought  of  asking 
you  to  marry  him." 

Christine  was  quite  unruffled.  "  Oh,  Nancy 
dear,"  she  said,  "  how  helpful  you  always  are.  I 
see  what  you  mean.  You  think  no  one  will  be- 
lieve that  he  ever  did  propose  unless  I  accept  him. 
I  think  you  're  perfectly  right." 

"  They  won't  and  I  don't,"  said  Nancy,  and 
moved  rapidly  to  the  door. 

"  One  moment,  Mrs.  Almar,"  said  Riatt,  firmly. 
"  You  happen  to  be  mistaken.  I  did  very  defi- 
nitely ask  Miss  Fenimer  to  marry  me  not  ten 
minutes  ago." 

"  And  do  you  renew  that  request?  "  said  Chris- 
tine. 

118 


Well,  heaven  itself  can't  save  a  fool,"  said  Mrs.  Almar 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  I  do." 

Christine  held  out  her  hand  with  the  gesture 
of  a  queen.  "  And  I  very  gratefully  accept  your 
generous  offer,"  she  said. 

"  Well,  heaven  itself  can't  save  a  fool,"  said 
Mrs.  Almar,  and  she  went  out  of  the  room,  and 
slammed  the  door  after  her. 

As  she  went,  Riatt  actually  flung  the  hand  of 
his  newly  affianced  wife  from  him.  "  May  I 
ask,"  he  said,  "  what  you  think  you  are  doing?  " 

Christine  had  covered  her  face  with  her  hands, 
and  had  sunk  into  a  chair.  For  an  instant  Riatt 
really  thought  that  the  strain  of  the  situation  had 
been  too  much  for  her;  but  on  closer  inspection 
he  found  that  she  was  shaking  with  laughter. 

"  I  can't  be  sure  which  was  funnier,"  she 
gasped,  "  your  face  or  Nancy's." 

Riatt  did  not  seem  to  feel  mirthful.  "  Do  you 
take  in,"  he  asked  her  sternly,  "  that  you  have 
just  broken  your  word." 

"  I  Ve  just  plighted  it,  have  n't  I?  " 

"  You  promised  to  refuse  me." 

She  sprang  up.  "  I  did  not.  I  never  said  a 
word  like  it.  If  a  stenographer  had  been  here, 

121 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

the  record  would  bear  me  out.  You  inferred  it, 
I  dare  say.  Besides,  what  could  I  do?  Even 
Nancy  herself  told  us  no  one  would  believe  us 
unless  I  accepted  you  —  at  least  for  a  time." 

"For  what  time?" 

"  Oh,  don't  let  us  cross  bridges  until  we  get 
to  them.  We  are  hardly  engaged  yet  —  Max! 
I  must  practise  calling  you  Max,  mustn't  I?" 
In  attempting  to  repress  an  irrepressible  smile  she 
developed  an  unknown  dimple  in  her  left  cheek. 
The  sight  of  it  made  his  tone  particularly  relent- 
less as  he  answered : 

"  If  by  the  fifteenth  of  this  month  you  have 
not  broken  this  engagement,  1 11  announce  its 
termination  myself." 

"  And  you,"  she  went  on,  as  if  he  had  not 
spoken,  "  must  get  into  the  habit  of  calling  me 
Christine." 

"  Listen  to  me,"  he  said,  and  he  took  her  by 
the  shoulders  with  a  gesture  that  no  one  could 
have  mistaken  for  a  caress.  "  I  do  not  intend  to 
marry  you." 

"  I  see  you  feel  no  doubt  of  my  wishes  in  the 


matter." 


122 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  I  wonder  where  I  got  the  idea." 

"  Be  reassured,"  she  said,  finding  herself 
released.  "  My  intentions  are  honorable.  I 
would  not  marry  any  really  nice  man  absolutely 
against  his  will.  Although  I  did  say  to  myself 
the  very  first  time  I  saw  you,  coming  downstairs 
in  that  well-cut  coat  of  yours  —  or  is  it  the  shoul- 
ders ?  —  I  did  say :  *  I  could  be  happy  with  that 
man,  happier,  that  is,  than  with  Ned.'  You  may 
think  it  is  n't  much  of  a  compliment,  but  Ned  has 
a  very  nice  disposition,  nicer  than  yours." 

"  And  I  should  say  it  was  the  first  requisite 
for  your  husband." 

She  became  suddenly  plaintive.  "  Of  course  I 
can  see,"  she  said,  "  why  any  one  should  n't  want 
to  be  married,  but  I  can't  see  why  you  object  to 
being  engaged  to  me  for  a  few  weeks." 

"  How  can  I  be  sure  you  will  keep  your 
word?" 

"  I  '11  give  it  to  you  in  writing,"  she  returned. 
"Write:  This  is  to  certify  that  I,  Christine 
Fenimer,  have  enveigled  the  innocent  and  unsus- 
pecting youth  — " 

"  I  won't,"  said  Riatt. 
123 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  I  will  then,"  she  answered,  and  sitting  down 
she  wrote : 

;'  This  is  to  certify  that  I,  Christine  Fenimer, 
have  speciously,  feloniously  and  dishonorably  in- 
duced Mr.  Max  Riatt  to  make  me  an  offer  of 
marriage,  which  I  knew  at  the  time  he  had  no 
wish  to  fulfil,  and  I  hereby  solemnly  vow  and 
swear  to  release  him  from  same  on  or  before  the 
first  day  of  March  of  this  year  of  grace. 
(Signed)  CHRISTINE  FENIMER." 

"  There,"  she  said,  "  put  that  in  your  pocket- 
book,  and  for  goodness'  sake  don't  let  your  pocket 
be  picked  between  now  and  the  first  of  March." 

He  took  it  and  put  it  very  carefully  away,  ob- 
serving as  he  did  so :  "  It 's  a  long  time  to  the 
first  of  March." 

"  It  may  n't  seem  as  long  as  you  think." 

"  Are  you  by  any  chance  supposing,"  he  asked 
with  a  directness  he  had  learnt  from  her  own 
methods,  "  that  by  that  time  I  may  have  fallen 
in  love  with  you?  " 

She  did  not  hesitate  at  all.  "  Well,  I  think  it 
is  a  possibility." 

"  Oh,  anything  's  possible,  but  I  can  tell  you 
124 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

this:  Even  if  I  were  in  love  with  you,  you  are 
not  the  type  of  woman  I  should  ever  dream  of 
marrying." 

"  What  would  you  do?" 

"  If  I  saw  the  slightest  chance  of  falling  in  love 
with  you  —  which  I  don't  —  I  should  try  all  the 
harder  to  free  myself." 

"  I  don't  see  how  you  could  try  any  harder  than 
you  have.  You  begin  to  make  me  suspicious." 

"  Miss  Fenimer — " 

"  Christine,  please." 

"  Christine,  I  am  not  the  least  bit  in  love  with 
you." 

"  Quite  sure  that  you  're  not  whistling  to  keep 
your  courage  up?  " 

"  Quite  sure." 

"  Well,"  she  said,  "  just  to  show  my  fair  spirit, 
I  '11  tell  you  that  I  entirely  believe  you.  Shall  I 
add  it  to  the  contract:  And  I  credit  his  repeated 
assertion  that  he  is  not  and  never  will  be  in  the 
least  in  love  with  me?  No,  I  think  I  '11  omit  the 
*  and  never  will  be  '  clause." 

"  And  may  I  ask  one  other  question,"  he  con- 
tinued, ignoring  her  last  suggestion.  "  What  did 

125 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

you  mean  when  you  told  me  that  you  had  decided 
to  marry  Hickson?  " 

"So  I  have.  Don't  you  see?  He  and  I  are 
really  engaged,  but  he  does  n't  know  it.  You  and 
I  are  not  really  engaged,  and  you  do  know  it." 

"  I  wish  I  did,"  he  returned  gloomily. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  she  said,  "  you  know  it  and  I  know 
it,  but  the  dog  —  that's  Nancy  —  she  doesn't 
know  it." 

He  seemed  unimpressed  by  the  humor  of  the 
situation.  He  walked  away  and  put  his  hand  on 
the  knob. 

"  One  thing  more,"  he  said.  "  I  would  like 
to  be  sure  that  you  understand  this.  The  weap- 
ons are  all  in  my  hands.  The  only  strength  of 
your  position  lies  in  my  good  nature  and  willing- 
ness to  keep  up  appearances.  Neither  one  is  a 
rock  of  defense.  I  'm  not,  as  you  said  yourself, 
good-tempered,  and  I  care  very  little  for  appear- 
ances. The  risk  you  run,  if  you  don't  play  abso- 
lutely fair,  is  of  being  publicly  jilted." 

"  And  I  should  hate  that,"  she  answered  can- 
didly. 

"  I  'm  sure  you  would,"  he  answered.  "  And 
126 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

I  don't  particularly  enjoy  threatening  you  with 
such  a  possibility." 

"  Really,"  said  she.  "  Now  I  rather  like  you 
when  you  talk  like  that." 

"  Fortunate  that  you  do,"  he  returned,  "  for 
you  will  probably  hear  a  good  deal  of  it." 

She  nodded  with  perfect  acquiescence.  "  And 
now,"  she  said,  "  if  you  have  no  more  hateful 
things  to  say,  let 's  go  and  tell  our  friends  of  the 
great  happiness  that  has  come  into  our  lives." 


127 


CHAPTER  IV 

AS  they  went  down  the  stairs  —  those  same 
stairs  on  which  only  two  evenings  before 
they  had  first  met  —  toward  the  drawing-room 
where  their  great  announcement  was  to  be  made, 
Riatt  stopped  Christine  in  her  triumphal  progress. 
'You're  not  going  to  have  the  supreme  cru- 
elty," he  said,  "  to  let  poor  Hickson  think  that 
our  engagement  is  a  genuine  one?  " 

Christine  paused.  "  I  wonder,"  she  answered 
thoughtfully,  "  which  in  the  end  would  deceive 
him  most  —  to  make  him  think  it  was  real  or 
fake?" 

"  You  blood-curdling  woman,"  said  Riatt.  "  I 
am  not  engaged  to  you." 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  are  —  until  March  first." 
"  I  am  pretending  to  be  until  March  first." 
She  leant  against  the  banisters,  and  regarded 
him  critically.     "  Is  n't  it  strange,"  she  remarked, 
"  that  you  dislike  so  much  the  idea  of  my  trying 

128 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

to  make  you  care  for  me  ?  Some  men  would  be 
crazy  about  the  process." 

"  Oh,  if  I  enjoyed  the  process,  I  should  regard 
myself  as  lost." 

She  shook  her  head.  "  I  'm  not  sure  that  this 
terror  is  n't  a  more  significant  confession  of  weak- 
ness. Who  is  it  is  most  afraid  of  high  places? 
Those  who  feel  a  desire  to  jump  off." 

"  I  'm  not  afraid,"  he  returned  crossly.  "  I 
just  don't  like  it.  I  don't  want  to  be  made  love 
to.  That 's  one  of  the  mistakes  women  are  al- 
ways making.  They  think  all  men  want  to  be 
made  love  to  by  any  woman.  We  don't." 

Christine  sighed  gently.  "  You  're  getting  dis- 
agreeable again,"  she  said  with  the  softest  re- 
proach in  her  tone.  "  Let 's  go  on." 

"  You  have  n't  answered  my  question,"  he  said. 
"  Are  you  going  to  tell  Hickson  the  truth?  " 

"  How  can  I?  If  I  told  him,  Nancy  would 
know  at  once,  and  the  whole  aim  of  this  plot 
is  to  deceive  Nancy.  However,"  she  added 
brightly,  "  I  shall  do  what  I  can  to  alleviate  his 
sufferings.  I  shall  tell  him  that  I  am  not  in  the 
least  in  love  with  you,  that  you  have  never  s<? 

129 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

much  as  kissed  me,  and  that  my  present  intention 
is  that  you  never  shall.'* 

"  And  you  may  add  that  my  intention  is  the 
same,"  replied  Riatt  with  some  sternness. 

Christine  smiled.  *  There  's  no  use  in  telling 
him  that,"  she  answered,  "  for  he  would  n't  be- 
lieve it." 

"  Upon  my  word,"  said  he,  "  I  think  you  're 
the  vainest  woman  I  ever  met." 

"  Candid,  merely,"  she  returned,  as  she  opened 
the  door  of  the  drawing-room.  The  scene  that 
greeted  them  was  eminently  suited  to  their  pur- 
pose. Laura  and  Ussher  were  standing  at  the 
table  watching  the  last  bitter  moments  of  the 
game  between  Nancy  and  the  unfortunate  Wick- 
ham.  Hickson  was  not  there. 

"  Oh,  Laura,"  said  Christine,  "  could  I  have 
just  a  word  with  you?" 

Mrs.  Ussher  looked  up  startled.  She  had  been 
deeply  depressed  by  her  unsuccessful  conversation 
with  her  cousin.  He  had  seemed  to  her  abso- 
lutely immovable,  but  there  was  no  mistaking  the 
significant  bride-like  modulations  of  Christine's 
voice. 

130 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  With  me?"  she  said,  and  in  her  eagerness 
she  was  already  at  the  door,  before  Christine 
stopped  her. 

"  Really,"  she  said,  "  I  don't  know  why  only 
with  you.  I  know  you  are  all  enough  my  friends 
to  be  interested  —  even  Mr.  Wickham.  Max 
and  I  wanted  to  tell  you  that  we  are  engaged. 
Only,  of  course,  it 's  a  secret" 

Riatt  had  resolved  that  he  would  not  look  at 
Mrs.  Almar,  and  he  did  n't.  She  was  adding  up 
the  score,  and  her  arithmetic  did  not  fail  her. 
"  And  that  makes  387,  Mr.  Wickham,"  she  said, 
and  then  she  looked  up  with  her  bright,  piercing 
eyes,  in  time  to  see  Laura  fling  herself  enthusi- 
astically into  Riatt's  arms.  She  got  up  with  a 
shrewd  smile.  "  Let  me  congratulate  you,  too, 
Mr.  Riatt,"  she  said.  "  I  always  like  to  see  peo- 
ple get  what  they  deserve." 

"  Oh,  Nancy,  I  'm  sure  you  think  I  'm  getting 
far  more  than  I  deserve,"  said  Christine. 

"  You  have  n't  actually  got  it  yet,  darling,"  re- 
turned Mrs.  Almar. 

"  That  sounds  almost  like  a  threat,  my  dear." 

"  More  in  the  line  of  a  prophecy." 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

At  this  moment  the  footman  created  a  diver- 
sion by  announcing  that  the  sleigh  was  waiting  to 
take  Mr.  Riatt  to  the  train,  and  Riatt  explained 
that  he  had  decided  not  to  take  the  train  that 
day.  Then  Christine,  on  inquiring,  found  that 
Hickson  was  writing  letters  in  the  library,  and 
went  away  to  talk  to  him.  She  had  no  fear  of 
leaving  Max;  she  knew  he  was  in  safe  hands; 
Laura  would  not  allow  Nancy  an  instant  alone 
with  him.  Nor,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  was  Riatt 
himself  eager  to  subject  himself  to  the  cross-ex- 
amination of  that  keen  and  contemptuous  intel- 
ligence. Indeed  Nancy  soon  drifted  out  of  the 
room,  and  Riatt  found  himself  committed  to  a 
long  tete-a-tete  with  Laura  on  the  subject  of  Chris- 
tine's perfections,  and  his  supposed  deceitfulness 
in  pretending  indifference.  "  Oh,  you  protested 
too  much,  my  dear  Max,"  Laura  insisted  with  the 
most  irritating  exuberance.  "  I  knew  when  you 
began  to  say  that  she  was  the  last  woman  in  the 
world  you  would  fall  in  love  with,  that  your  hour 
had  come.  No  man  ever  lived  who  could  resist 
Christine  when  she  chooses  to  make  herself 
agreeable." 

132 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Riatt  felt  he  was  looking  rather  grim  for  an 
accepted  lover,  as  he  answered  that  it  was  a  great 
comfort  to  feel  one  had  succumbed  only  to  the 
irresistible.  Before  very  long  Christine  came 
back,  and  taking  in  what  had  been  going  on,  man- 
aged to  get  rid  of  her  friend.  Laura  made  it 
plain  that  she  was  only  too  glad  to  accord  the 
lovers  a  few  blissful  moments  alone. 

"  I  can't  describe  to  you,"  he  said  crossly, 
"  how  intensely  disagreeable  I  find  the  situation." 

Christine  laughed.  "  And  did  you  look  like 
that  while  Laura  was  detailing  my  perfections? 
A  judge  about  to  pronounce  the  death  sentence  is 
gay  in  comparison.  Cheer  up.  I  have  n't  had  a 
pleasant  fifteen  minutes  myself.  I  never  thought 
myself  kind-hearted,  but  I  assure  you  I  really 
longed  to  tell  Ned  the  truth.  He  is  the  nicest 
person." 

"  I  believe  he  will  make  you  an  excellent  hus- 
band." 

"  Oh,  dear,  I  'm  afraid  he  will."  She  sighed. 
"  Safety  first  will  be  a  dull  motto  to  go  through 
life  with.  Do  you  want  to  know  what  I  told 
him?  No?  Well,  I'm  going  to  tell  you  any- 

133 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

how.  I  said  that  you  had  made  me  this  magnifi- 
cent offer,  prompted,  I  felt  sure,  by  the  purest 
chivalry;  and  that  I  felt  I  owed  it  to  my  family, 
my  friends  and  my  reputation  to  accept  it,  but  that 
you  had  left  my  heart  untouched,  and  that  if  he 
and  you  were  both  penniless,  I  should  prefer  him 
to  you.  That  was  n't  all  perfectly  true." 

Suddenly  Riatt  found  himself  smiling.  "  My 
innocent  child,"  he  said,  "  let  me  make  one  thing 
clear  to  you.  Any  effort  on  your  part  to  create 
an  impression  that  you  have  fallen  in  love  with 
me  will  not  be  crowned  with  success." 

Christine  was  quite  unabashed  by  his  direct- 
ness. 

"  I  'm  not  a  bit  in  love  with  you,"  she  said  — - 
"  not  any  more  than  you  are  with  me,  only  I 
realize  that  there  is  a  possibility  for  either  of  us, 
and  of  the  two,"  she  added  maliciously,  "  I  really 
think  I  'm  the  more  hard-hearted." 

"  Perhaps  you  will  think  I  am  running  away 
from  danger,"  he  answered,  "  when  I  tell  you 
that  as  soon  as  I  have  seen  your  father,  got  your 
ring,  and  fulfilled  the  immediate  necessities  of  the 
occasion,  I  shall  go  home." 

134 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"Oh,  you  can't  do  that!"  cried  Christine,  in 
genuine  alarm. 

"  You  surely  don't  expect  me  to  neglect  my 
legitimate  business  on  account  of  this  ridiculous 
farce." 

For  the  first  time  a  certain  amount  of  real  hos- 
tility crept  in  their  relation.  They  looked  at  each 
other  steadily.  Then  Christine  said  politely: 
"  Well,  we  '11  see  how  things  go."  He  knew, 
however,  that  she  was  as  determined  that  he 
should  stay  as  he  was  to  leave,  and  the  knowledge 
made  him  all  the  firmer. 

The  evening  was  a  stupid  one,  devoted  largely 
to  toasts,  jokes,  congratulations  and  a  few  stabs 
from  Nancy.  Through  it  all  poor  Hickson's 
gloom  was  obvious. 

The  next  day  the  party  broke  up.  Wickham 
and  Hickson  taking  an  early  express;  the  others, 
even  Nancy  who  abandoned  her  motor  on  account 
of  the  snow,  going  in  by  a  noonday  train.  Al- 
ready, it  seemed  to  Riatt  that  the  bonds  of  matri- 
mony were  closing  about  him  as  he  found  himself 
delegated  to  look  up  Christine's  trunks,  maid  and 
dressing-case. 

135 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  train  he  had  an 
appointment,  made  by  telephone,  with  Mr.  Feni- 
mer.  The  interview  was  to  take  place  at  Mr. 
Fenimer's  club,  a  most  discreet  and  elegant  organ- 
ization of  fashionable  virility.  Riatt  was  not 
kept  waiting.  Fenimer  came  promptly  to  meet 
him. 

He  was  a  man  of  fifty,  well  made,  and  su- 
premely well  dressed.  He  was  tanned  as  befits 
a  sportsman;  on  his  face  the  absence  of  furrows 
created  by  the  absence  of  thought  was  made  up 
for  by  the  fine  wrinkles  induced  by  poignant  and 
continued  anxiety  about  his  material  comforts. 
In  his  figure  the  vigor  of  the  athlete  contended 
with  the  comfortable  stoutness  of  the  epicure. 
He  had  left  a  discussion  in  which  all  his  highest 
faculties  had  been  roused,  a  discussion  on  the  re- 
plenishing of  the  club's  cellar,  and  had  come  to 
speak  to  his  future  son-in-law,  with  satisfaction 
but  without  vital  interest.  His  manner  was  a  per- 
fect blending  of  reserve  and  cordiality. 

"  You  will  hardly  expect  a  definite  answer  from 
me  to-day,  Mr.  Riatt,"  he  said.  "  You  under- 
stand, I  am  sure,  that  knowing  so  little  of  you  — 

136 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

an  only  child,  my  daughter" — He  waved  his 
hand,  not  manicured  but  most  beautifully  cared 
for.  Riatt  noticed  that  in  spite  of  these  chilling 
sentences,  Fenimer  was  soon  composing  a  para- 
graph for  the  press,  and  advocating  the  setting 
of  the  date  for  the  wedding  early  in  April,  as  he 
himself  was  booked  for  a  fishing-trip  later.  He 
did  this  under  the  assumption  that  he  was  yield- 
ing to  Riatt' s  irresistible  eagerness.  "  You  have 
an  excellent  advocate  in  Christine.  My  daughter 
has  always  ruled  me.  And  now  in  my  old  age 
I  am  to  lose  her.  I  had  a  long  letter  from  her 
by  the  early  mail,  speaking  of  you  in  the  highest 
terms."  He  smiled.  Riatt  rose,  and  allowed 
him  to  return  to  the  question  of  the  club's  wines. 

Something  about  this  interview  was  more  shock- 
ing to  him  than  the  cynicism  of  Nancy  and  Chris- 
tine; Fenimer's  suave  eagerness  to  hand  his  daugh- 
ter over  to  a  total  stranger,  did  not  amuse  him  as 
the  women's  light  talk  had  done.  He  felt  sorry 
for  Christine  and  a  little  disgusted.  He  wondered 
what  that  letter  had  really  said.  Was  Fenimer  a 
conspirator,  too,  or  only  a  willing  dupe  ? 

From  the  club  he  went  to  the  jeweler's  and 

137 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

selected  the  most  conspicuous  diamond  he  could 
find.  Her  friends  should  not  miss  the  fact  that 
she  was  engaged  if  a  solitaire  could  prove  it  to 
them.  He  ordered  it  sent  to  her,  much  to  the 
surprise  of  the  clerk,  who  pointed  out  that  it  was 
usual  to  present  such  things  in  person. 

After  this  he  went  to  his  hotel  and  found  a  pile 
of  letters  had  accumulated  in  his  absence. 

The  first  he  opened  was  in  a  round  childish 
hand  with  uncertain  margins,  and  a  final  "  e  "  on 
the  word  Hotel. 

"  Dear  Cousin  Max,"  it  said,  "  I  do  not  know 
you,  but  Mamma  says  that  you  are  going  to  marry 
Christine.  I  think  you  are  very  lucky,  and  am 
glad  you  are  bringing  her  into  our  family.  Victor 
and  I  love  her.  She  comes  to  the  nursery  some- 
times, but  never  stays  long. 

"  Your  loving  cousin, 

"  MURIEL  USSHER." 

Riatt  laughed  as  he  laid  it  down.  "  I  bet  she 
does  n't  stay  long,"  he  said.  "  How  she  does  skim 
the  cream!  "  And  then  with  an  exclamation  of 
surprise  he  tore  open  another  envelope  which  had 
been  left  by  hand.  It  said: 

138 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"Dear  Max: 

"  I  hope  you  will  be  pleasantly  surprised  to  find 
that  Mother  and  I  are  staying  in  this  hotel.  I  find 
New  York  more  wonderful  but  more  unfriendly 
than  I  had  been  told,  and  I  want  terribly  to  see  a 
familiar  face.  Won't  you  look  us  up  as  soon  as 
you  can? 

"  Yours  as  ever, 

"  DOROTHY." 

He  went  to  the  telephone,  found  that  she  was 
in  and  immediately  arranged  that  she  should  go 
out  to  lunch  with  him. 

All  the  morning  and  some  of  the  night,  he  had 
been  engaged  in  the  composition  of  a  letter  to 
Dorothy  Lane.  Theirs  was  an  old  and  senti- 
mental friendship,  which  adverse  circumstances 
might  have  ended,  or  favoring  circumstances  have 
changed  into  love.  As  things  were,  it  seemed  to 
be  tending  toward  their  marriage  without  any 
whirlwind  rapidity. 

There  was  no  doubt  he  was  very  glad  to  see 
her,  as  he  hurried  her  into  a  taxicab,  and  told  the 
man  to  drive  to  the  restaurant  of  the  hour.  She 
was  very  neatly  and  nicely  dressed  in  a  tailor-made 

139 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

costume  for  which  she  had  just  paid  twice  as  much 
as  a  native  New  York  woman  would  have  paid. 
In  fact  she  was  an  essentially  neat  and  nice  little 
person.  They  talked  both  at  once  like  two  chil- 
dren about  all  the  people  at  home,  until  they  were 
actually  seated  at  table,  and  lunch  was  ordered. 
Then  Riatt  made  up  his  mind  he  must  take  the 
plunge. 

"  Dolly,"  he  said,  "  do  I  look  as  if  something 
tremendous  had  just  happened?  " 

"  Don't  tell  me  you  Ve  invented  a  submarine,  or 
something?  " 

"  No,  this  is  something  of  a  more  personal  na- 
ture." 

"  Oh,  Max,  you  Ve  fallen  in  love?  " 

A  waiter  rushing  up  with  rolls  and  butter  sug- 
gested that  Madame  probably  preferred  fresh  but- 
ter to  salted,  before  Riatt  answered:  "  No,  that 
is  just  what  I  have  n't  done  —  and  that 's  the 
secret,  Dolly.  I  'm  not  a  bit  in  love,  but  I  am 
engaged  to  be  married." 

"Max!     But  why  if—" 

"  I  '11  tell  you  on  the  second  of  March.  It 's 
a  good  story.  You  '11  enjoy  it,  but  for  the  present, 

140 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

my  dear,  you  must  just  accept  the  fact  that  I  am 
engaged,  that  I  am  neither  wildly  elated  nor  un- 
duly depressed." 

Miss  Lane  had  grown  extremely  serious. 
"Who  is  she?"  she  asked. 

"  Her  name  is  Christine  Fenimer." 
"  I  Ve  seen  her  name  in  the  papers." 
"  Who  has  not?  "  he  returned  bitterly. 
"  What  is  she  like?" 

Riatt  felt  some  temptation  to  answer  truthfully 
and  say:  "  She  is  designing,  mercenary,  hard- 
hearted and  as  beautiful  as  a  goddess."  But  he 
did  not,  and,  as  he  paused  he  saw  the  head  waiter 
spring  forward  from  the  doorway,  smiling  and 
holding  up  a  pencil  to  attract  the  attention  of  some 
underling,  and  then  he  saw  that  Christine,  Hick- 
son  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Linburne  were  being  ush- 
ered in.  Christine  approached,  tall,  beautiful, 
conspicuous,  and  as  divinely  unconscious  of  it  as 
Adam  and  Eve  of  their  nakedness;  she  moved 
between  the  tables,  bowing  here  and  there  to  peo- 
ple she  knew,  not  purposely  ignoring  all  others, 
but  seeming  to  find  them  invisible  as  thin  air. 
Riatt  watched  as  if  she  were  some  great  spectacle, 

141 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

and  was  recalled  only  by  hearing  Dorothy's  voice 
saying : 

"  What  a  lovely  creature !  " 

"  That  is  Miss  Fenimer." 

A  sudden  and  deep  flush  spread  over  Miss 
Lane's  face. 

"  And  you  have  been  telling  me  of  your  indif- 
ference to  her?"  she  asked  bitterly.  "  How 
could  any  man  be  indifferent!  " 

"  Good  Heavens,"  cried  Riatt  fiercely.  "  All 
you  women  are  alike !  Beauty  is  n't  the  only 
thing  in  the  world  for  a  man  to  love.  There 
are  such  things  as  truth  and  honor — " 

"  Yes,  and  old  friendship,  too,"  said  Miss  Lane, 
u  but  they  don't  always  amount  to  much." 

c  That  is  an  unnecessary,  unkind  thing  to  say," 
he  answered.  "  My  friendship  for  you  means  a 
good  deal  more  to  me  than  my  engagement  to 
her." 

"  Max,  I  don't  need  to  be  consoled  or  soothed 
about  your  engagement,"  said  Miss  Lane  with 
a  good  deal  of  spirit.  "  As  far  as  I  am  concerned 
you  are  quite  free  not  only  to  become  engaged, 
but  to  have  any  feeling  you  like  for  the  lady  you 

142 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

have  chosen.  I  'm  sure  I  congratulate  you  very 
heartily." 

"  You  mean  you  don't  believe  a  word  of  what 
I  have  been  trying  to  tell  you." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  do.  I  believe  you  are  en- 
gaged." 

Perhaps  it  was  as  well  that  at  this  instant,  Chris- 
tine's eyes  fell  upon  her;  she  stared,  then  laughed, 
and  pointed  him  out  to  Hickson,  who  glanced  at 
him  coldly;  he  was  evidently  thinking  that  he 
would  not  have  taken  another  girl  out  to  lunch 
the  very  day  his  engagement  was  announced. 

"  I  suppose  I  had  better  go  and  speak  to  them," 
Max  said. 

"  I  should  think  so,"  replied  Dorothy  tonelessly. 
"Who  are  the  others?" 

Riatt,  not  sorry  for  a  moment's  respite,  entered 
into  a  detailed  account  of  Lee  Linburne.  He  was 
the  third  generation  of  a  great  fortune,  augment- 
ing rather  than  decreasing  with  years.  He  was 
but  little  over  thirty  and  had  taken  the  whole  field 
of  amusement  and  sports  as  his  own.  He  played 
polo,  had  a  racing  stable  and  a  racing  yacht,  had 
gone  in  recently  for  flying  (hence  Riatt's  connec- 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

tion  with  him),  occasionally  financed  a  theatrical 
show,  and  now  and  then  attended  a  directors' 
meeting  of  some  of  his  grandfather's  companies. 
The  result  was  that  his  name  was  as  widely  known 
through  the  country  as  Abraham  Lincoln's.  Dor- 
othy knew  as  soon  as  she  heard  his  name,  that  he 
had  married  a  girl  from  Pittsburg,  and  had  gone 
through  her  native  city  in  a  private  car  on  his 
honeymoon  three  years  before,  and  had  stopped, 
she  rather  thought,  and  had  lunch  with  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State. 

On  Hickson,  Max  touched  more  briefly. 

When  at  last  he  did  cross  the  room,  Christine 
received  him  with  the  utmost  cordiality. 

;i  What  luck  to  run  across  you,  though  of  course 
this  is  the  only  place  in  New  York  where  one  can 
get  food  that  does  n't  actually  poison  one.  Last 
week  —  do  you  remember,  Lee  ?  We  dined 
somewhere  or  other  with  the  Petermans  and  noth- 
ing from  the  beginning  of  dinner  to  the  end  was 
fit  to  eat.  But,  bless  them,  they  did  not  know. 
Have  you  met  Mrs.  Linburne?  Oh,  she  knows 
all  about  us.  In  fact  every  one  does,  for  I  can't 
resist  wearing  this."  She  moved  her  left  hand 

144 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

on  which  his  diamond  shone  like  a  swollen  star. 
"  How  did  you  find  my  father?  " 

"  Most  amiable,"  answered  Riatt  rather  poison- 
ously,  and  regretted  the  poison  when  he  saw  the 
Linburnes  exchange  an  amused  glance.  Of  course 
every  one  knew  that  Mr.  Fenimer  would  present 
no  obstacles. 

"Who  are  you  lunching  with,  Max?  Is  that 
your  little  secretary?" 

The  tone,  very  civil  and  friendly,  made  Max 
furious,  as  if  any  one  that  Christine  did  not  know 
was  hardly  worth  inquiring  about. 

u  No,  it 's  Miss  Lane  —  an  old  friend  of  mine. 
I  think  I  must  have  spoken  to  you  about  her." 

"  Oh,  the  perfect  provider?  Is  that  really 
she  ?  "  Christine  craned  her  neck  openly  to  stare 
at  her.  "  Why,  she  's  rather  nice  looking  —  for 
a  good  housekeeper,  that  is.  You  're  dining  with 
me  to-night,  are  n't  you?  " 

"  No,"  answered  Riatt,  with  a  sudden  inspi- 
ration of  ill-humor.  "  I  'm  dining  with  Miss 
Lane." 

"  Bring  her,  too  I     Won't  she  come?  " 

"  I  really  can't  say." 

145 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  You  can  ask  her.'* 

"  To  your  house?  " 

Christine  always  knew  when  she  was  really 
beaten.  She  got  up  with  a  sigh.  "  Take  me 
over,"  she  said  to  him,  "  and  I  '11  ask  her  myself." 
And  she  added  to  the  Linburnes :  "  Out-of-town 
people  are  always  so  fussy  about  little  things." 

Riatt  did  not  know  if  this  slightly  contemptuous 
observation  were  meant  to  apply  to  him  or  to 
Miss  Lane;  he  hoped  in  his  heart  that  Dorothy 
would  refuse  the  invitation.  But  he  under-esti- 
mated Christine's  powers.  No  one  could  have 
been  more  persuasive,  more  meltingly  sweet,  and 
compellingly  cordial  than  she  was,  and  it  was  soon 
arranged  that  he  was  to  bring  Dorothy  to  dine 
that  evening. 

When  it  was  over,  and  he  was  back  again  in 
his  own  seat,  he  could  see,  by  glancing  at  Chris- 
tine that  she  was  engaged  in  a  long  humorous  ac- 
count of  the  incident,  for  her  own  table;  and  he 
could  tell,  even  from  that  distance,  when  he  was 
supposed  to  be  speaking,  when  Dorothy,  and  when 
Christine  was  repeating  her  own  words.  Mean- 
while Dorothy  was  saying: 

146 


It  was  arranged  that  he  was  to  bring  Dorothy  to  dine  that  evening 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  How  charming  and  simple  she  is,  Max.  You 
always  hear  of  these  people  as  being  so  artificial 
and  elaborate." 

"  Oh,  they  're  direct  enough,"  returned  Riatt 
bitterly. 

The  bitterness  was  so  apparent  that  Dorothy 
could  not  ignore  it.  She  looked  up  at  him  for 
an  instant  and  then  she  said  seriously :  "  I  be- 
lieve I  know  what  the  trouble  with  you  is,  Max. 
You  can't  believe  that  she  loves  you  for  yourself. 
You  're  haunted  by  the  dread  that  what  you  have 
has  something  to  do  with  it.  Is  n't  that  it?  " 

Max  now  made  use  of  the  well-known  counter 
question  as  an  escape  from  a  tight  place. 

"  And  what  is  your  judgment  on  that  point, 
Dolly?" 

"  She  loves  you,"  said  Miss  Lane,  with  con- 
viction, and  a  moment  afterward  she  sighed, 

"Without  disputing  your  opinion,"  returned 
Riatt,  "  I  should  very  much  like  to  know  on  what 
you  base  it." 

"  Oh,  on  a  hundred  things  —  on  her  look,  her 
manner,  her  being  so  nice  to  me  —  on  woman's 
intuition  in  fact." 

149 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Riatt  thought  to  himself  that  he  had  never  had 
much  confidence  in  the  intuition  theory  and  now 
he  had  none. 

They  did  not  part  at  the  termination  of  lunch. 
It  was  almost  a  duty,  Riatt  considered,  to  show 
a  stranger  a  few  of  the  sights.  Miss  Lane,  who 
was  extremely  well-informed  on  all  questions  of 
art,  suggested  the  Metropolitan  Museum;  and 
after  that  they  took  a  taxicab  and  drove  along  the 
river  and  watched  the  winter  sunset  above  the 
palisades;  and  then  they  went  and  had  tea  at  the 
Plaza,  and  by  the  time  they  returned  to  Mrs. 
Lane  it  was  almost  the  hour  for  dressing  for 
dinner;  and  then  Max  sat  gossiping  with  Mrs. 
Lane,  for  whom  he  had  always  had  the  deepest 
affection,  until  he  knew  he  was  going  to  be  late. 

They  were  late  •. — » a  difficult  thing  to  be  in  the 
Fenimer  household.  The  party,  a  small  one,  was 
waiting  when  Miss  Lane  and  Mr.  Riatt  were 
ushered  in.  Nancy  was  there,  and  Hickson,  and 
Mr.  Linburne  without  his  wife  this  time;  and 
Mr.  Fenimer  himself,  doing  honor  to  his  future 
son-in-law  by  taking  a  meal  at  home. 

Christine  in  a  wonderful  pink  chiffon  and  lace 
150 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

tea-gown  came  forward  to  greet  Dorothy,  rather 
than  Max,  to  whom  she  gave  merely  an  under- 
standing smile,  while  she  held  the  girl's  hand  an 
instant. 

"  Max  says  this  is  your  first  visit  to  New 
York,"  she  said,  after  she  had  introduced  her 
father  and  Nancy.  "  It  is  good  of  you  to  give 
us  an  evening,  when  there  are  so  many  more  amus- 
ing things  to  do,  but  Max  says  we  are  as  inter- 
esting as  Bushmen  or  Hottentots.  I  hope  you  '11 
find  us  so." 

The  hope  seemed  unlikely  to  be  fulfilled,  for 
while  the  presence  of  Mr.  Fenimer,  who  was 
rather  a  stickler  for  etiquette,  prevented  the  per- 
fect freedom  that  had  reigned  at  the  Usshers', 
the  talk  turned  on  people  whom  Dorothy  did  not 
know,  and  it  was  so  quick  and  allusive  that  no  out- 
sider could  have  followed  it.  Hickson,  soon  ap- 
preciating something  in  Miss  Lane's  situation  not 
utterly  unlike  his  own,  was  touched  by  her  obvious 
isolation,  and  tried  to  make  up  for  the  neglect  of 
the  others.  Riatt,  sitting  between  Nancy  and 
Christine,  had  little  time  left  to  him  for  observa- 
tion of  any  one  else. 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

When  dinner  was  over  Christine  instantly  drew 
him  away  to  her  own  little  sitting-room,  on  pre- 
tense of  showing  him  some  letter  of  congratula- 
tion that  she  had  received.  But  once  there,  she 
shut  the  door,  and  standing  before  it,  she  said, 
with  an  air  of  the  deepest  feeling: 

"  You  're  in  love  with  this  girl." 

Riatt,  who  had  sunk  comfortably  down  on  a 
sofa  by  the  fire,  looked  up  in  surprise. 

"And  if  I  am?"  he  answered. 

"  You  need  not  humiliate  me  by  making  it  so 
evident,"  she  retorted,  and  almost  stamped  her 
foot.  "  Lunching  with  her  in  public,  and  taking 
her  to  tea,  as  I  was  told,  getting  here  so  late  for 
dinner- — -I  wish  you  could  have  heard  the  way 
Nancy  and  Lee  Linburne  were  goading  me  before 
dinner  about  it." 

"  My  dear  Christine,"  said  Max,  and  he  was 
amused  to  hear  a  tone  of  real  conjugal  remon- 
strance in  his  voice,  "  you  have  lunched  and  dined 
in  one  day  with  Hickson,  and  yet  I  don't  feel  I 
have  any  grounds  of  complaint." 

"  Every  one  knows  how  little  I  care  for  Ned," 
she  answered,  "  but  people  say  you  do  care  for 

152 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

this  little  Western  mouse.  I  hate  her.  She  's 
good  and  nice,  and  the  kind  of  a  girl  men  think 
it  wise  to  marry,  and  just  as  different  from  me 
as  she  can  be.  I  do  hate  her  —  and  I  hate  myself 
too."  And  she  covered  her  face  with  her  hands. 

"  Come  here,  Christine,"  said  Riatt,  without 
moving,  and  was  rather  surprised  when  she 
obeyed.  He  made  her  sit  down  beside  him,  and 
taking  her  hands  from  her  face,  was  astonished 
to  find  that  she  was  really  crying. 

"  Why,  my  dear  child,"  he  said,  in  the  most 
paternal  manner  he  could  manage.  "  What  is 
this  all  about?"  And  it  was  quite  in  the  same 
note  that  Christine  wept  a  moment  on  his  shoul- 
der. Then  she  raised  her  head,  with  a  return 
of  her  old  brisk  manner. 

"  I  'm  jealous,"  she  said.  "  Oh,  don't  suppose 
one  can't  be  jealous  of  people  one  does  n't  care 
for.  I  could  be  jealous  of  any  one  when  Nancy 
begins  teasing  me  and  making  fun  of  me.  And 
I  'm  jealous  too,  because  I  'm  sure  she  's  a  nice 
girl  and  I  Ve  made  such  a  mess  of  my  life,  and 
I  deserve  it  all;  but  when  you  came  in  to- 
gether, as  if  you  had  just  been  happily  married, 

153 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

and  I  looked  at  Ned  and  thought  how  wretched 
I  'm  always  going  to  be  with  him,  and  what  silly 
things  I  shall  undoubtedly  do  before  I  die — " 

"  I  hate  to  hear  you  talk  like  that." 

"  Why  should  you  care  ?  She  'II  never  do  silly 
things  —  that 's  clear.  Is  that  why  you  love 
her?" 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact  I  am  not  in  love  with 
Miss  Lane." 

"  My  dear  Max,  there  's  really  no  reason  why 
you  should  deceive  me  about  it." 

"  That 's  just  what  she  said  about  you." 

"  You  mean  " —  Christine  sprang  to  her  feet 
and  gazed  at  him  like  an  outraged  empress — • 
"  You  mean  that  you  told  her  that  you  did  n't 
love  me?  " 

"  I  most  assuredly  did." 

"  Max,  how  could  you  be  so  low,  so  despicable, 
so  false?" 

Riatt  laughed.  "  Well,  it  certainly  was  not 
false,  Christine,"  he  said.  "  It  happens  to  be 
true,  you  know;  and  I  felt  I  owed  a  measure  of 
truth  to  a  very  old  and  very  real  friendship.  I 

154 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

told  her  nothing  more  than  that  —  I  was  engaged 
and  not  madly  in  love." 

Christine  threw  up  her  hands.     "  The  game  is 
up,"     she    said.     "  She  '11    tell    everybody,    of 


course." 


"  She  '11  tell  absolutely  no  one." 

"  Because  she  's  perfect,  I  suppose?  " 

"  Because  she  did  n't  for  one  moment  believe 


me." 


"Didn't  believe  we  were  engaged?" 

"  Did  n't  believe  that  any  one  could  be  engaged 
to  so  beautiful  and  charming  a  person  as  you  are 
and  not  be  in  love  with  her." 

Christine's  manner  softened  slightly.  "  She 
thinks  me  charming?" 

"  She  thinks  you  irresistible,  almost  as  irresisti- 
ble as  Laura  thinks  you ;  and  she  is  trying  to  find 
out  why  I  am  so  eager  to  deceive  her  in  the 
matter." 

Christine  clapped  her  hands,  and  executed  a 
few  steps.  "  She 's  jealous,  too,"  she  cried. 
"  The  perfect  woman  is  jealous.  I  never  thought 
of  her  suffering,  too." 

155 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  She  is  not  jealous,  but  I  suppose  it  may  hurt 
her  feelings  a  little  that  I  shouldn't — " 

"  Oh,  nonsense,  Max,  she  loves  you.  Do  you 
think  I  could  be  deceived  on  such  a  subject?  She 
watches  you  all  the  time.  She  loves  you.  And 
I  think  it  would  be  very  impertinent  of  her  not 
to.  I  should  think  very  poorly  of  her  if  she 
didn't.  Imagine  what  she  must  be  undergoing 
at  this  moment,  by  our  prolonged  absence." 

"  Perhaps,  we  'd  better  be  going  back,"  said 
Riatt  calmly. 

Christine  barred  the  door,  spreading  out  both 
her  arms. 

"  She  thinks  you  're  making  love  to  me,  Max." 

"  And  yet,  Christine,  I  'm  not." 

"  But  she  does  n't  know  that;  she  does  n't  know* 
what  an  immovable  iceberg  you  are." 

"  No,  indeed  she  does  n't" 

Christine's  manner  again  changed  utterly.  All 
the  playfulness  disappeared.  "  You  mean,"  she 
said,  "  that  you  're  not  cold  and  immovable  with 
her?" 

"  What 's  the  use  of  my  telling  you  anything, 
if  you  don't  believe  me?"  The  idea  of  teasing 

156 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Christine  had  never  occurred  to  him  before,  but 
he  thought  highly  of  it.  She  came  toward  him  at 
once. 

"  Oh,  Max,  my  dear,"  she  said,  "  don't  be 
horrid,  when  I  'm  having  such  a  wretched  time 
anyhow.  Don't  you  think  you  might  pretend  to 
care  for  me  just  a  little?  " 

Riatt  rose.  "  Yes,  I  do,"  he  said,  "  and  so  I 
shall,  in  public." 

Christine  was  all  the  gentle,  wistful  child  im- 
mediately. 

"  Never  when  we  're  alone?  "  she  asked. 

Max  lit  a  cigarette  briskly.  "  I  don't  suppose 
we  shall  very  often  be  alone,"  he  returned. 
"After  all,  why  should  we?" 

She  looked  at  him  like  a  wounded  bird:  "  No 
reason  if  you  don't  want  to." 

At  this  moment  the  door  opened  and  her  father 
came  in. 

"  Come,  come,  my  dear,  this  is  no  way  to  treat 
your  guests,"  he  said.  "  I  must  really  insist  that 
you  go  back  to  the  drawing-room.  Upon  my 
word,  Riatt,  you  ought  not  to  keep  her  like 
this." 

157 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  It  was  a  great  temptation  to  have  her  a  few 
minutes  to  myself,  Mr.  Fenimer,"  said  Max,  and 
Christine  grinned  gratefully  at  him  behind  her 
father's  back. 

"  Very  likely,  very  likely,"  said  Mr.  Fenimer 
crossly,  "  but  I  want  to  go  to  the  club,  and  how 
can  I,  unless  she  goes  back?  You  can't  think 
only  of  yourself,  my  dear  fellow." 

Riatt  admitted  that  this  was  true  and  he  and 
Christine  went  back  to  the  drawing-room. 

Very  soon  afterwards,  he  gave  Dorothy  a  keen 
prolonged  look,  which  she  did  not  misunderstand. 
She  got  up  at  once  and  said  good  night.  In  the 
taxicab,  he  questioned  her  at  once  as  to  her  im- 
pressions. 

"  I  did  n't  like  Mr.  Linburne  or  Mrs.  Almar 
at  all,  Max.  She  kept  asking  me  the  greatest 
number  of  questions  about  you  and  the  story  of 
your  life.  What  interest  has  she  in  you,  I  won- 
der? " 

"  None,'1  answered  Riatt,  but  added  rather 
quickly,  "  And  what  did  you  think  of  Lin- 
burne?" 

"  I  could  n't  bear  him,  though  I  own  he  's  nice 

158 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

looking.  But  he  told  Mrs.  Almar  a  story  — I 
could  not  help  hearing  —  I  never  heard  such  a 
story  in  my  life." 

"  I  gather  it  did  not  shock  Mrs.  Almar." 

"  She  knew  it  already.  *  Lee,'  she  said,  *  that 
story  is  so  old  that  even  my  husband  knows  it,' 
and  every  one  laughed." 

"  I  'm  afraid  you  did  not  enjoy  yourself." 

"  I  like  Mr.  Hickson  very  much.  And  I 
thought  Miss  Fenimer  more  beautiful  than  before. 
He  was  telling  me  what  a  wonderful  nature  she 
has.  He  said  he  had  never  seen  her  out  of 
temper." 

"  Yes,  Hickson 's  crazy  about  her,"  said  Riatt 
casually. 

"  Dear  Max,  why  do  you  try  to  deceive  your- 
self about  your  own  feeling  for  her?" 

"  Deceive  myself,"  he  said  angrily.  "  If  you 
knew  the  truth,  my  dear  Dolly!"  His  heart 
stood  still.  Deceive  himself!  What  an  insult- 
ing phrase.  He  repressed  a  strong  impulse  to 
propose  on  the  instant  to  Dolly.  That  would 
show  her  how  indifferent  he  was  to  Christine. 
It  would  assure  him,  too. 

159 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Instead  he  formed  a  plan  to  go  home  with  her 
and  her  mother,  when  they  went. 

"When  are  you  going  back,  Dolly?" 

"  The  day  after  to-morrow." 

"Any  objections  to  my  going,  too?" 

"Objections!     Max,  dear!" 

He  engaged  his  ticket  at  once  at  the  hotel  office. 
Having  done  so,  he  felt  tranquil  and  relieved,  and 
perhaps  the  least  little  bit  dull.  The  clerk  as- 
sured him  he  was  fortunate  to  be  able  to  get  a 
berth  at  such  short  notice.  "  Very  fortunate," 
he  agreed  and  was  annoyed  at  a  certain  cold  ring 
in  his  voice. 

The  next  day,  true  to  his  promise  to  show 
Christine  all  attentions  that  the  public  could  ex- 
pect, he  sent  her  a  box  of  flowers,  and  at  four 
he  stopped  for  her  and  they  went  and  took  a  long 
walk  together,  hoping  to  meet  as  many  people 
whom  they  knew  as  possible. 

"  We  won't  walk  in  the  Park,"  said  Christine. 
"  No  one  sees  you  there,  though  of  course  if  they 
do,  it  makes  an  impression.  But,  no ;  we  '11  stick 
to  Fifth  Avenue,  and  study  all  the  windows  that 
have  clothes  or  furniture  in  them,  as  if  our  minds 

1 60 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

were  entirely  taken  up  with  trousseaux  and  house- 
furnishing." 

She  was  true  to  her  word,  and  not  squeamish. 
Riatt  found  it  rather  amusing  to  wander  at  her 
side,  dressing  her  in  imagination  in  every  garment 
that  the  windows  so  frankly  displayed,  and  an- 
swering with  real  interest  her  constant  inquiry: 
"  Do  you  think  that  would  become  me?  Would 
you  like  me  in  that?  Do  you  prefer  silk  to 
batiste?" 

They  were  standing  in  front  of  a  stocking  shop 
in  which  on  a  row  of  composition  legs  which  might 
have  made  a  chorus  envious,  "  new  ideas  in 
hosiery  "  were  romantically  displayed,  when  Riatt 
decided  to  tell  her  of  his  approaching  departure. 
He  chose  the  street,  because  he  was  well  aware 
that  she  would  not  approve  of  his  plan,  and  he 
wished  to  avoid  a  repetition  of  last  evening's 
scene. 

"  I  shall  have  to  go  away  the  day  after  to-mor- 
row," he  said,  and  glanced  quickly  down  on  her 
to  see  how  she  would  take  it. 

She  was  studying  the  stockings,  and  she  drew 
away  with  her  head  at  a  critical  angle. 

161 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  It 's  a  queer  thing,"  she  said,  "  that  certain 
stripes  do  make  the  ankle  look  large.  Theoreti- 
cally they  ought  to  make  it  look  slim,  but  you 
take  my  word  for  it,  Max,  they  don't." 

"  Nothing  could  make  your  ankles  look  any- 
thing but  slim,  Christine,"  he  replied  politely. 

"  No,  my  ankles  are  rather  good,  are  n't  they?  " 
she  replied,  and  then  as  if  she  had  now  disposed 
of  the  more  serious  topic,  she  added :  "  And  so 
you  are  going  home  ?  Well,  you  may  n't  believe 
it,  but  I  shall  really  miss  you  a  great  deal.  Oh, 
look  at  these  jade  flowers!  They're  really 
good." 

Riatt  looked  at  the  pale  lilac  and  pink  blossoms 
starting  from  their  icy  green  leaves,  but  he  hardly 
saw  them.  He  was  disgusted  at  the  discovery 
of  an  unexpected  perversity  in  his  nature.  He 
found  himself  hardly  pleased  at  the  absence  of 
protest  with  which  his  announcement  was  greeted. 
All  her  attention  was  absorbed  by  the  jade. 

"  Would  n't  it  look  well  on  our  drawing-room 
mantel-piece?  "  she  said. 

"  I  '11  give  it  to  you  as  a  wedding  present,"  he 
162 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

answered.  "  That  is,  if  you  think  Hickson  would 
like  it." 

"  I  don't  think  he  '11  like  anything  you  ever 
give  me.  He  did  not  even  like  my  ring.  He 
thinks  the  stone  too  large.  By  the  way,  I  never 
properly  thanked  you  for  the  ring.  It  has  been 
most  splendidly  persuasive.  Even  Nancy  grew 
pale  when  she  saw  the  proof  of  your  sin- 
cerity." 

"  Will  it  be  sufficient  even  in  the  face  of  my 
continued  absence?"  he  asked,  for  it  occurred  to 
him  that  perhaps  she  had  not  understood  that  he 
meant  to  remain  in  the  West  indefinitely. 

"  Oh,  I  think  so,"  she  answered,  pleasantly. 
"  You  might  write  to  me  now  and  then,  and  I  '11 
show  just  a  suitable  paragraph  here  and  there  to 
an  intimate  friend." 

A  new  idea  suddenly  occurred  to  him.  Had 
she  any  motive  for  desiring  his  absence?  Had 
some  unexpected  possibility  cropped  up?  Did 
she  want  to  get  rid  of  him?  Not,  he  added,  that 
he  minded  if  she  did,  but  it  would  be  rather  inter- 
esting to  know. 

163 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  I  'm  going  a  little  earlier  than  I  expected," 
he  went  on,  "  because  the  Lanes  are  going,  and 
I  hate  to  make  that  long  journey  alone." 

She  nodded  understandingly.  "  It  will  be  much 
nicer  for  you  to  have  them." 

He  looked  at  her  coldly.  It  seemed  to  him 
he  had  never  known  a  more  callous  nature.  And 
to  think  that  the  evening  before  she  had  actually 
shed  tears,  simply  because  he  took  another  girl 
to  lunch!  It  caught  his  attention,  he  said  to  him- 
self, just  as  a  study  in  human  nature. 

He  did  not  see  her  the  next  day  until  evening. 
They  were  both  to  dine  at  Nancy's — (thus  had 
the  proposed  dinner  with  Mrs.  Almar  deterio- 
rated) and  go  afterward  to  the  opera.  Nancy 
of  course  would  not  have  dreamed  of  crowding 
three  women  into  her  box,  so  the  party  consisted 
of  herself  and  Christine,  Riatt,  Roland  Almar  — 
a  pale,  eager,  little  man,  trying  to  placate  the 
world  with  smiles,  and  once  again  Linburne,  whose 
handsome  dark  head,  and  curved  mouth,  half 
cynical,  half  sensuous,  began  to  weary  Riatt  inex- 
pressibly. 

After  dinner  he  found  that  he  and  Mrs.  Almar 
164 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

were  to  go  in  her  tiny  coupe,  and  the  four  others 
in  Linburne's  large  car. 

"  And  so,"  she  observed  as  soon  as  they  started, 
"  the  mouse  preferred  the  trap  after  all?  "  And 
he  could  feel  that  she  was  laughing  at  him  in  the 
shadow. 

"  But  feels  none  the  less  grateful  for  the  kind 
intention  to  rescue  him." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  care  much  for  the  gratitude  of  a 
man  in  love  with  another  woman." 

"  You  judge  me  to  be  very  much  in  love?  " 

This  general  conviction  on  the  part  of  the  ladies 
of  his  acquaintance  was  growing  monotonous. 
Nancy  continued: 

"  But  come  back  in  two  years,  and  we  '11  talk 
of  gratitude  then.  In  the  meantime  let  us  stick 
to  the  impersonal.  What  do  you  think  of  Lin- 
burne?" 

"  I  Ve  had  many  opportunities  of  judging. 
I  Ve  been  nowhere  for  two  days  without  meeting 
him." 

Mrs.  Almar  laughed  with  meaning. 

"  I  wonder  why  that  should  be,"  she  said. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  Riatt  asked,  but  at 

165 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

that  moment  they  drew  up  before  the  Thirty- 
ninth  Street  entrance,  and  the  doorman,  opening 
the  motor's  door,  shouted  "  Ten  —  Forty-five  " 

—  a  cheerful  lie  he  has  been  telling  four  times 
a  week  for  many  years. 

In  the  opera  box,  Riatt  at  once  seated  himself 
behind  Christine.  There  is  no  place  like  the 
opera  for  public  devotion.  Christine  was  re- 
splendent in  black  and  gold  with  a  huge  black  and 
gold  fan  that  made  the  fans  of  the  temple  dancers 

—  the  opera  was  "  Ai'da  " —  look  commonplace 
and  ineffective. 

Behind  it  she  now  murmured  to  Max: 

"  And  what  poisonous  thing  did  dear  Nancy 

tell  you  coming  down?  " 

"  Nothing  —  except  what  everyone  has  been 

telling  me  for  the  last  few  days  —  that  I  seemed 

very  much  in  love." 

"  And  that  annoyed  you,  I  suppose. " 

"  On  the  contrary.     I  was  delighted  to  find  I 

was  such  a  good  actor." 

"  People  who  pretend  to  be  asleep  sometimes 

end  by  actually  doing  it.     Pretending  is  rather 

dangerous  sometimes.'* 

166 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Yes,  but  you  see  I  sha'n't  have  to  pretend 
after  to-morrow." 

"  Are  you  all  packed  and  ready?  " 

"  Mentally  I  am." 

In  the  entr'acte  which  followed  quickly  after 
their  entrance,  Christine  dismissed  him  very  po- 
litely. "  There,"  she  said,  "  you  don't  have  to 
stay  on  duty  all  the  time.  You  can  go  and  stretch 
your  legs,  if  you  want." 

He  rose  at  once,  and  as  he  did  so,  Linburne 
slipped  into  his  place. 

Riatt  had  caught  sight  of  Laura  Ussher  across 
the  house,  and  knew  his  duty  demanded  that  he 
should  go  and  say  a  word  to  his  exuberant  cousin 
who,  he  supposed,  regarded  herself  as  the  artificer 
of  his  happiness. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  Max,"  she  began,  hastily  bun- 
dling out  an  old  friend  who  had  been  reminiscing 
about  the  days  of  the  de  Rezskes,  and  waving 
Riatt  into  place,  "  every  one  is  so  delighted  at  the 
engagement,  and  thinks  you  both  so  fortunate. 
How  happy  she  is,  Max!  She  looks  like  a  dif- 
ferent perstfn," 

"  I  thought  she  looked  rather  tired  this  eve- 
167 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

ning,"  answered  Riatt,  who  always  found  himself 
perverse  in  face  of  Laura's  enthusiasm. 

Mrs.  Ussher  raised  her  opera  glass  and  studied 
Christine's  profile,  bent  slightly  toward  Linburne, 
who  was  talking  with  the  immobility  of  feature 
which  many  people  use  when  saying  things  in  pub- 
lic which  they  don't  wish  overheard.  "  Oh,  well, 
she  does  n't  look  as  brilliant  as  she  did  when  you 
were  with  her.  But  isn't  that  natural?  I  won- 
der why  Nancy  asked  Lee  Linburne  and  where  is 
that  silly  little  wife  of  his.  Oh,  don't  go,  Max. 
It 's  only  the  St.  Anna  attache ;  we  met  him  on  the 
coast  last  summer." 

But  Riatt  insisted  on  making  way  for  the  South 
American  diplomat,  who  was  standing  courteously 
in  the  back  of  the  box. 

He  wandered  out  into  the  corridors,  not  enough 
interested  in  any  of  his  recent  acquaintances  to 
go  and  speak  to  them.  Two  men  coming  up 
behind  him  were  talking;  he  could  not  help  hear- 
ing their  dialogue: 

"  Who  's  this  fellow  she  's  engaged  to?  " 

"  No  one  knows  —  a  Western  chap  with  a  lot 
of  money." 

168 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"Suppose  she  cares  anything  about  him?" 

"  Oh,  no,  she  's  telling  every  one  she  does  n't. 
They  say  he  's  mad  about  her." 

"  Ought  to  be,  by  Jove.  I  always  thought  the 
only  man  she  ever  cared  for — " 

Riatt  found  himself  straining  his  ears  vainly 
to  catch  the  name,  but  it  was  drowned  in  other 
conversations  that  rose  about  him.  He  under- 
stood now  why  Christine  had  been  angry  at  his 
telling  Dorothy  that  he  was  not  in  love,  for  he 
found  himself  annoyed  at  the  idea  of  her  having 
told  everybody  that  she  was  n't.  But,  it 's  a  dif- 
ferent thing,  he  thought,  to  tell  one  intimate  friend 
in  confidence,  or  to  give  the  news  to  every  Tom, 
Dick  and  Harry.  Then  the  juster  side  of  his 
nature  reasserted  itself,  and  he  saw  that  she  was 
only  laying  the  trail  for  the  breaking  of  her  en- 
gagement. Yet  this  evidence  of  her  good  faith 
did  not  entirely  allay  the  irritation  of  his  spirit. 

When  he  went  back  to  the  box,  Linburne  was 
gone,  and  the  man  who  had  replaced  him,  yielded 
to  Riatt  with  the  most  submissive  promptness. 
But  this  time  no  easy  interchange  occurred  be- 
tween them. 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

About  half  past  ten,  Christine  leaned  over  to 
her  hostess,  and  said:  'Would  you  care  at  all 
if  I  deserted  you,  dear?  I  'm  tired." 

"  Mind  when  I  have  my  Roland  to  keep  me 
company?"  said  Nancy.  "One  seems  to  take 
one's  husband  to  the  opera  this  year." 

At  this  point  Linburne,  who  had  been  standing 
in  the  back  of  the  box,  came  forward  and  said: 
"Won't  you  take  my  car,  Miss  Fenimer?  I'll 
go  down  and  find  it  for  you." 

A  look  that  passed  between  them,  a  twinkle  in 
Nancy's  eyes,  suddenly  convinced  Riatt  that  the 
scheme  was  for  Linburne  to  take  Christine  home. 
He  did  not  stop  to  ask  why  this  idea  was  repug- 
nant to  him,  but  he  said  firmly: 

"  I  have  a  car  of  my  own  downstairs,  and  I  '11 
take  Miss  Fenimer  home."  It  was  of  course  a 
lie,  as  the  simple  taxicab  was  his  only  means  of 
vehicular  locomotion,  but  a  taxi,  thank  heaven,  can 
always  be  obtained  quickly  at  the  Metropolitan. 
Christine  consented.  Linburne  stepped  back. 

They  drove  the  few  blocks  in  silence.  He  went 
up  the  steps  of  her  house,  and  when  the  door  was 
opened  he  said:  "  May  I  come  in  for  a  few  min- 

170 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

utes?     I  sha'n't  have  time  to-morrow  probably." 

"  Do,"  said  Christine.  She  went  into  the  draw- 
ing-room and  sank  into  a  chair.  "  Who  ever 
heard  of  not  saying  good-by  to  one's  fiancee?  " 

He  saw  that  she  was  in  her  most  teasing  mood, 
and  somehow  this  made  him  more  serious. 

"  Perhaps,"  he  said  rather  stiffly,  "  you  think 
I  carry  out  your  instructions  too  exactly.  Per- 
haps I  show  a  more  scrupulous  devotion  in  public 
than  you  meant." 

"  Oh,  no.     It  looked  so  well." 

"  It  would  not  have  looked  so  well  for  Lin- 
burne  to  take  you  home." 

She  clapped  her  hands.  "  Excellent,"  she  said, 
"  but  you  know  it  is  not  necessary  to  take  that 
proprietary  tone  when  we  are  alone." 

"  Even  as  a  mere  acquaintance  I  might  offer 
you  some  advice,"  he  said. 

"  I  'm  rather  sleepy  as  it  is,"  she  returned, 
yawning  slightly. 

For  the  first  time  Riatt  had  a  sense  of  crisis. 
He  knew  he  must  either  save  her,  or  leave  her. 
He  could  not  give  her  a  little  sage  advice  and 
abandon  her.  It  would  be  like  advising  a  starv- 

171 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

ing  man  not  to  steal  and  going  away  with  your 
pockets  full.  He  could  not  say,  "  Have  nothing 
to  do  with  a  selfish  materialist  like  Linburne," 
when  he  knew  better  perhaps  than  any  one  how 
empty  of  any  ideality  or  hope  her  relation  to 
Hickson  was  bound  to  be.  Yet  on  the  other  hand, 
he  could  not  say,  "  Come  to  me,  instead."  He 
despised  her  method  of  life,  distrusted  her  charac- 
ter, disliked  her  ideas,  and  was  under  no  illusion 
as  to  her  feeling  for  himself.  If  he  had  come  to 
her  without  money  she  would  have  laughed  in 
his  face.  What  chance  would  either  of  them 
have  under  such  circumstances?  It  was  simple 
madness  to  consider  it.  And  why  was  he  consid- 
ering it?  Just  because  she  looked  lovely  and  wan, 
sunk  in  a  deep  chair  in  all  her  black  and  gold 
finery,  just  because  her  face  had  the  lines  of  an 
Italian  saint  and  her  voice  had  strange  and  mov- 
ing tones  in  it. 

"  Good-by,"  he  said  briefly. 

She  sprang  up.  "  Good  gracious,"  she  said, 
"  and  are  you  going  just  like  that?  You  know  it 
is  customary  to  extract  a  promise  to  write.  At 
least  to  beg  for  a  lock  of  the  hair."  (She  drew 

172 


He  stood  like  a  rock  under  her  caress 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

out  a  golden  lock,  and  let  it  crinkle  back  into  place 
again.)  "  Or  do  you  think  you  will  remember 
me  without  it?  " 

"  I  'm  not  so  sure  I  want  to  remember  you." 

"  I  hope  you  don't.  It 's  the  things  you  don't 
want  to  remember  that  you  never  can  get  out  of 
your  head." 

"  Good-by,"  he  said  again. 

"  Have  n't  you  one  nice  thing  to  say  to  me 
before  you  go?" 

"Not  one." 

"  Would  n't  you  at  least  admit  that  I  had  en- 
larged your  point  of  view?  " 

"  Are  n't  you  going  to  shake  hands  with  me?  " 
he  said. 

She  shook  her  head,  and  began  to  approach 
him.  He  felt  afterward  as  if  he  had  known  ex- 
actly what  she  meant  to  do,  and  yet  he  seemed  to 
lack  all  power  to  prevent  her  —  or  perhaps  it 
was  will  that  was  lacking.  She  came  up  to  him, 
very  deliberately  put  her  arms  about  his  neck,  and, 
almost  as  tall  as  he,  laid  her  head  on  his  shoulder; 
and  then  murmured  under  his  chin:  "  But  you 
must  never,  never  come  back." 

175 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

He  stood  like  a  rock  under  her  caress;  he  did 
ngt  make  any  answer ;  he  did  not  attempt  to  undo 
the  clasp  of  her  arms.  He  was  as  impassive  as 
a  hunted  animal  who,  in  some  terrible  danger, 
pretends  to  be  already  dead. 

It  was  a  matter  of  only  a  few  seconds.  Then 
she  dropped  her  arms,  and  he  went  away. 


CHAPTER  V 

RUNNING  away  is  seldom  a  becoming  ges- 
ture, yet  it  is  one  that  should  at  least  bring 
relief;  but  as  Riatt  went  westward,  he  was  con- 
scious of  no  relief  whatsoever.  The  day  was  bit- 
ter and  gray,  and,  looking  out  of  the  window, 
he  felt  that  he  was  about  as  flat  and  dreary  as 
the  country  through  which  he  was  passing. 

He  sat  a  little  while  with  the  Lanes  in  their 
compartment. 

"  I  suppose  you  '11  be  glad  to  get  home  and  see 
George  and  Louise  and  the  children,"  said  Mrs. 
Lane,  referring  to  some  cousins  of  Riatt's  about 
whom,  it  is  to  be  feared,  he  had  not  thought  for 
weeks. 

Dorothy  laughed.  "  What  does  he  care  for 
home-staying  cousins  when  he  is  leaving  a  lovely 
creature  languishing  for  him  in  New  York?  "  she 
said. 

"  I  doubt  if  Christine  does  much  languishing," 
he  returned,  though  the  idea  was  not  at  all  disa- 
greeable to  him. 

177 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  You  two  are  the  strangest  lovers  I  ever 
knew,"  said  Miss  Lane. 

Riatt  wondered  if  that  were  an  accurate  de- 
scription of  them  —  lovers,  though  strange  ones. 

He  left  his  old  friends  presently  and  went  and 
sat  in  the  observation-car.  What,  he  wondered, 
had  Christine  meant  by  her  last  words,  about 
never  coming  back?  Never  come  back  to  annoy 
with  his  critical  attitude?  Never  come  back  to 
watch  her  deterioration  as  Hickson's  wife?  Or 
never  come  back  to  disturb  her  peace  of  mind  and 
heart  by  his  mere  presence?  He  debated  all  in- 
terpretations but  the  last  pleased  him  most. 

A  bride  and  groom  were  in  the  car.  The  girl 
was  not  in  the  least  like  Christine.  She  was  small 
and  wore  a  pair  of  the  most  fantastic  gray  and 
black  boots  that  Riatt  had  ever  seen;  but  she  was 
very  blond  and  very  much  in  love.  Riatt  hated 
both  her  and  her  husband.  "  People  ought  not  to 
be  allowed  to  show  their  feelings  like  that,"  he 
said  to  himself,  as  he  kicked  open  the  door  leading 
to  the  back  platform,  with  a  violence  that  was 
utterly  unnecessary. 

Nor  did  things  mend  on  his  arrival  at  his  home. 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

His  native  town  was  naturally  interested  in  his 
engagement;  it  showed  this  interest  by  keeping  the 
idea  continually  before  him.  It  assumed,  of 
course,  that  he  was  going  to  bring  his  bride  home. 
The  rising  architect  of  the  community  came  to 
him  with  the  assumption  that  he  would  wish  to 
build  her  a  more  suitable  house  than  that  of  his 
father,  which,  large  and  comfortable,  had  been 
constructed  in  the  very  worst  taste  of  the  early 
"  eighties."  No,  Riatt  found  himself  saying 
with  determination,  his  father's  house  would  be 
good  enough  for  his  wife.  He  thought  the  senti- 
ment sounded  rather  well,  as  he  pronounced  it. 
But  this  did  not  solve  his  difficulties,  for  now  it 
was  but  too  evident  that  he  must  at  least  redeco- 
rate the  old  house ;  and  he  found  himself,  he  never 
knew  exactly  how,  actually  in  process  of  doing 
over  a  bedroom,  bathroom  and  boudoir  for  Chris- 
tine, just  exactly  as  if  he  had  expected  her  ever 
to  lay  eyes  on  them. 

Mrs.  Lane  came  to  him  with  the  suggestion  that 
he  would  wish  Christine  to  be  one  of  the  patron- 
esses of  the  next  winter's  dances.  The  list  was 
about  to  be  printed.  Max  hesitated.  "  It  would 

179 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

be  a  little  premature  to  put  her  down  as  Mrs. 
Riatt,  wouldn't  it?"  he  objected.  Mrs.  Lane 
thought  this  was  merely  superstitious,  and  ordered 
the  cards  so  printed  without  consulting  him  fur- 
ther. 

Every  one  asked  him  what  he  heard  from  her, 
so  that  he  actually  stooped  once  or  twice  to  invent 
sentences  from  imaginary  letters  of  hers.  He 
even  went  so  far  as  to  read  the  society  columns 
of  the  New  York  newspapers,  so  that  he  might 
not  be  caught  in  any  absurd  error  about  her  where- 
abouts. Such  at  least  is  the  reason  by  which  he 
explained  his  conduct  to  himself. 

He  was  shocked  to  find  that  he  was  restless  and 
dissatisfied.  The  only  occupation  that  seemed  to 
give  any  relief  was  gambling;  or,  as  a  mine-owning 
friend  of  his  expressed  it,  in  making  "  a  less  con- 
servative and  more  remunerative  investment  of 
his  capital."  He  spent  hours  every  day  hanging 
over  the  ticker  in  the  office  of  Burney,  Manders 
and  Company  —  and  this  young  and  eager  firm 
of  brokers  made  more  money  in  commissions  dur- 
ing the  first  two  weeks  of  his  return  than  they  had 
during  the  whole  year  that  preceded  it. 

180 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

On  the  whole  he  lost,  and  Welsley,  his  mining 
friend,  seeing  this  began  to  urge  on  him  more 
and  more  the  advisability  of  buying  out  the  ma- 
jority of  stock  in  a  certain  Spanish-American  gold 
mine.  At  first  he  always  made  the  same  answer: 
"  You  know  as  well  as  I  do,  Welsley,  I  would 
never  put  a  penny  into  any  property  I  had  not 
inspected." 

But  gradually  a  desire  to  inspect  it  grew  up  in 
his  mind.  What  would  suit  his  plans  better  than 
a  long  trip,  as  soon  as  the  breaking  of  his  engage- 
ment was  announced?  A  week  at  sea,  two  or 
three  days  on  a  river,  and  then  sixty  miles  on  mule- 
back  over  the  mountains  —  there  at  least  he  would 
not  be  troubled  by  accounts  of  Christine's  wed- 
ding, or  assertions  that  she  had  looked  brilliant 
at  the  opera. 

He  had  been  at  home  about  two  weeks,  when 
her  first  letter  came.  So  far  the  only  scrap  of  her 
handwriting  that  he  possessed  was  the  formal  re- 
lease that  she  had. given  him  the  afternoon  they 
became  engaged,  and  which,  for  safe  keeping 
doubtless,  he  always  carried  in  his  pocketbook, 
and  which  he  sometimes  found  himself  reading 

181 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

over  — *  not  as  a  proof  that  he  could  get  out  of 
his  engagement,  but  rather  in  an  attempt  to  verify 
the  fact  that  he  had  ever  got  into  it. 

However  unfamiliar  with  her  writing,  he  had 
not  the  least  doubt  about  the  letter  from  the  first 
instant  that  he  saw  it.  No  one  else  could  use  such 
absurd  faint  blue  and  white  paper  and  such  large 
square  envelopes.  As  he  took  it  up,  he  said  to 
himself  that  it  had  never  occurred  to  him  that 
she  would  write,  and  yet  he  saw  without  any  sense 
of  inconsistency  that  he  had  looked  for  this  letter 
in  every  mail.  And  yet,  so  perverse  is  the  nature 
of  mankind,  that  he  opened  it,  not  with  pleasure, 
but  with  a  sudden  return  of  all  his  old  terror  of 
being  trapped. 

"  Dear  Max,"  it  said.  "  I  have  been  pretend- 
ing so  often  to  write  to  you  for  the  benefit  of  my 
inquiring  friends,  that  I  think  I  may  as  well  do 
it  as  a  tribute  to  truth. 

"How  foolish  that  was  —  the  night  you  went 
away!  One  gets  carried  awa^y  sometimes  by  the 
drama  of  a  situation,  without  any  relation  to  the 
facts,  and  the  idea  of  parting  forever  from  one's 
fiance  is  rather  dramatic,  isn't  it?  I  cried  all 

182 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

night,  and  rather  enjoyed  it.  Then  in  the  morn- 
ing when  I  woke  up,  everything  seemed  to  have 
returned  to  the  normal,  and  I  could  not  under- 
stand what  had  made  me  so  silly. 

"  Don't  suppose  that  because  you  have  gone, 
I  am  therefore  freed  from  the  disagreeable  criti- 
cism of  which  you  made  such  a  speciality.  Ned 
comes  in  almost  every  day  to  tell  me  that  he  does 
not  approve  of  my  conduct.  I  am  not  behaving, 
it  appears,  as  an  affianced  bride  should.  Don't 
you  like  to  think  of  Ned  so  loyally  protecting  your 
interests  in  your  absence?  His  criticisms  are,  I 
suppose,  based  on  the  attentions  of  a  nice  little 
boy  just  out  of  college,  who  calls  me  '  Helen,'  and 
writes  sonnets  to  me  which  are  to  appear  in  the 
most  literary  of  weeklies.  Look  out  for  them. 
They  are  good,  and  may  raise  your  low  estimate 
of  my  charms.  The  best  one  begins : 

"When  the  blond  wonder  first  on  Paris  dawned  — 

"Isn't  that  pretty? 

"  Write  to  me.     At  least  send  me  a  blank  en- 
velope that  I  may  leave  ostentatiously  on  my  desk. 
"  Yours  at  the  moment, 

"  CHRISTINE/' 

Riatt's  first  thought  on  laying  down  the  letter 
was;  "Hickson  never  in  the  world  objected  to 

183 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

any  little  poet  just  out  of  college,  and  she  knows 
it  very  well.  It 's  Linburne  he  is  worried  about 
-. —  Linburne,  whose  name  she  does  not  even  men- 
tion." And  how  absurd  to  attempt  to  make  him 
believe  she  had  cried  all  night.  That  was  simply 
an  untruth.  Yet  oddly  enough,  it  came  before  his 
eyes  in  a  more  vivid  picture  than  many  a  scene 
he  had  actually  witnessed. 

A  few  minutes  later  he  went  to  the  club  and 
looked  up  the  literary  weekly  of  which  she  had 
spoken.  There  was  no  sonnet  in  it,  but  the  issue 
of  the  next  week  contained  it.  Riatt  read  it  with 
an  emotion  he  could  not  mistake.  It  brought 
Christine  like  a  visible  presence  before  him.  Also 
it  made  him  angry,  to  have  to  see  her  like  this, 
through  another  man's  eyes.  "  Little  whelp,"  he 
said,  "  to  detail  a  woman's  beauty  in  print  like 
that!  What  does  he  know  about  it  anyhow?  I 
don't  believe  for  one  second  she  looked  at  him 
like  that." 

The  sonnet  ended : 

She  turned,  a  white  embodiment  of  joy, 
And  looking  on  him,  sealed  the  doom  of  Troy. 
184 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

He  was  roused  by  a  friendly  shout  in  his  ear. 
"  Ho,  ho,  Max,  reading  poetry,  are  you?  What 
love  does  for  the  worst  of  us !  "  It  was  Welsley, 
who  snatched  the  paper  out  of  his  hand,  running 
over  the  lines  rapidly  to  himself:  "  Hem,  hem, 
*  carnation,  alabaster,  gold  and  fire.'  Some  queen, 
that,  eh?  Have  you  had  your  dinner?  Well, 
don't  be  cross.  There 's  no  reason  why  you 
should  n't  read  verse  if  you  like.  And  this  young 
man  is  the  latest  thing.  My  wife  says  they  are 
going  to  import  him  here  to  speak  to  the  Greek 
Study  Club." 

"  I  shall  be  curious  to  hear  him,  if  the  Greek 
Club  will  ask  me,"  said  Max. 

"  Oh,  you  '11  be  in  the  East  getting  married," 
answered  Welsley. 

Strangely  enough,  it  was  with  something  like  a 
pang  that  Max  said  to  himself  that  he  would  n't 
be. 

"  Carnation,  alabaster,  gold  and  fire." 

It  was  not  a  bad  line,  he  thought. 

After  dinner,  he  felt  a  little  more  amiable,  and 
so  he  sat  down  and  wrote  his  first  real  letter  to 
his  fiancee". 

185 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  If  we  were  really  engaged,  my  dear  Chris- 
tine," he  wrote,  "  you  would  have  had  a  night  let- 
ter long  before  this,  asking  you  to  explain  to  me 
just  how  it  was  that  you  did  look  on  that  amorous 
young  poet.  His  verse  is  pretty  enough,  though 
I  can't  say  I  exactly  enjoyed  it.  However,  my 
native  town  thinks  very  highly  of  him,  and  intends 
to  ask  him  to  come  and  address  one  of  our  local 
organizations.  If  so,  I  shall  have  an  opportunity 
of  questioning  him  on  the  subject  of  the  sources 
of  his  inspiration.  'Is  Helen  a  real  person?' 
I  shall  ask.  '  Not  so  very,'  I  can  imagine  his 
replying.  Ah,  what  would  we  both  give  to 
know? 

"  My  friends  here,  stimulated  by  Dorothy 
Lane's  ravishing  description  of  you,  have  asked 
many  times  to  see  your  picture.  I  am  ashamed  of 
my  own  carelessness  in  having  gone  away  without 
obtaining  one  for  exhibition  purposes.  Will  you 
send  me  one  at  once  ?  One  not  already  in  circula- 
tion among  poets  and  painters.  I  will  set  it  on 
my  writing  table,  and  allow  my  eyes  to  stray  senti- 
mentally toward  it  whenever  I  have  people  to 
dinner. 

"  By  the  way,  the  day  I  left  New  York  I  told 
a  florist  to  send  you  flowers  every  day.  We 


186 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

worked  out  quite  an  elaborate  scheme  for  every 
day  in  the  week.     Did  he  ever  do  it? 

"  Yours,  at  least  in  the  sight  of  this  company, 

"  MAX  RIATT." 

In  answer  to  this,  he  was  surprised  by  a  tele- 
gram: 

"  So  sorry  for  absurd  mistake.  Entirely  mis- 
understood source  of  the  flowers.  Enjoy  them  a 
great  deal  more  now.  Yes,  they  come  regularly. 
A  thousand  thanks.  Am  sending  photograph  by 
mail." 

Riatt  did  not  need  to  ask  himself  from  whom 
she  had  imagined  they  came.  Not  the  poet,  un- 
less magazine  rates  were  rising  unduly.  Nor 
Hickson,  who  failed  a  little  in  such  attentions, 
No,  it  was  Linburne  —  and  evidently  Linburne's 
attentions  were  taken  so  much  as  a  matter  of 
course,  that  she  had  not  even  thanked  him,  nor 
had  he  noticed  her  omission. 

He  did  not  answer  the  telegram,  nor  did  he 
acknowledge  the  photograph  but,  true  to  his  word, 
he  established  it  at  once  on  his  desk  in  a  frame 
which  he  spent  a  long  time  in  selecting.  The  pic- 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

ture  represented  Christine  at  her  most  queenly  and 
unapproachable.  She  wore  the  black  and  gold 
dress,  and  the  huge  feather  fan  was  folded  across 
her  bare  arms.  Every  time  he  looked  at  it,  he 
remembered  how  those  same  arms  had  been 
clasped  round  his  own  stiff  and  unbending  neck. 
And  sometimes  he  found  the  thought  distracted 
his  attention  from  important  matters. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  February  when  he 
received  one  morning  a  letter  from  Nancy  Almar. 
He  knew  her  handwriting.  She  was  always  send- 
ing him  little  notes  of  one  kind  or  another.  This 
one  was  very  brief. 

"  Clever  mouse !  So  it  knew  a  way  to  get  out 
all  the  time !  " 

All  day  he  speculated  on  the  meaning  of  this 
strange  message.  Had  Nancy  discovered  some 
proof  of  the  nature  of  his  engagement?  Had 
Christine  been  moved  by  pity  to  tell  Hickson  the 
truth?  On  the  whole  he  inclined  to  think  that 
this  was  the  explanation. 

The  next  day  he  knew  he  had  been  mistaken. 
He  had  a  letter  from  Laura  Ussher  —  not  the  first 
in  the  series  —  urging  him  to  come  back  at  once. 

188 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Max,"  she  wrote,  with  a  haste  that  made  her 
almost  indecipherable,  u  you  must  come.  What 
are  you  dreaming  of- — to  leave  a  proud,  beauti- 
ful, impressionable  creature  like  Christine  the  prey 
to  so  finished  a  villian  as  Linburne  ?  You  are  not 
so  ignorant  of  the  ways  of  the  world  as  not  to 
know  his  intentions.  Most  people  are  saying  you 
deserve  everything  that  is  happening  to  you.  I 
try  to  explain,  but  I  know  you  saw  enough  while 
you  were  here  to  be  put  upon  your  guard.  Why 
don't  you  come?  I  must  warn  you  that  if  you 
do  not  come  at  once  you  need  not  come  at  all." 

Riatt  had  just  come  in;  it  was  late  in  the  after- 
noon. The  letters  were  lying  on  his  writing  table ; 
and  as  he  finished  this  one,  he  raised  his  eyes  and 
looked  at  Christine's  picture. 

He  did  not  believe  Laura's  over-wrought  pic- 
ture. Christine  was  no  fool,  Linburne  no  villain. 
There  was  probably  a  little  flirtation,  and  a  good 
deal  of  gossip.  But  that  would  all  be  put  a  stop 
to  by  the  announcement  of  Christine's  engagement 
to  Hickson.  He  did  not  even  feel  annoyed  at  his 
cousin's  suggestion  that  he  did  not  know  his  way 
about  the  world.  He  knew  it  rather  better  than 
she  did,  he  fancied. 

189 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

And  having  so  disposed  of  his  mail,  he  took 
up  the  evening  paper  which  lay  beneath  it,  and 
read  the  first  headline : 

Mrs.  Lee  Linburne  to  seek  divorce:  Wife  of  well- 
known  multimillionaire  now  at  Reno  — 

As  he  read  this  a  blind  rage  swept  over  Riatt. 
He  did  not  stop  to  inquire  why  if  he  were  willing 
to  give  Christine  up  to  Hickson  he  was  infuriated 
at  the  idea  of  Linburne's  marrying  her;  nor  why, 
as  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  made  use  of,  he 
was  angry  to  find  that  he  had  been  far  more  useful 
than  he  had  supposed.  He  only  knew  that  he  was 
angry,  and  with  an  anger  that  demanded  instant 
action. 

He  looked  at  his  watch.  He  had  time  to  catch 
a  train  to  Chicago.  He  went  upstairs  and  packed. 
He  knew  that  what  he  was  doing  was  foolish,  that 
he  would  poignantly  regret  it,  but  he  never  wav- 
ered an  instant  in  his  intention. 

He  reached  New  York  early  in  the  afternoon. 
He  had  notified  no  one  of  his  departure,  and  he 
did  not  announce  his  arrival.  He  went  straight 
to  the  Fenimers*  house  —  not  indeed  expecting  to 

190 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

find  Christine  at  home  at  that  hour,  but  resolved 
to  await  her  return. 

The  young  man  at  the  door,  who  had  known 
Riatt  before,  appeared  confused,  but  was-  decided. 

Miss  Fenimer,  he  insisted,  was  out. 

Glancing  past  him  Riatt  saw  a  hat  and  stick  on 
the  hall  table.  He  had  no  doubt  as  to  their  owner. 

"  I  '11  wait  then,"  he  said,  coming  in,  and  hand- 
ing his  own  things  to  the  footman,  who  seemed 
more  embarrassed  still. 

Taking  pity  on  him,  Riatt  said : 

"  You  mean  Miss  Fenimer  is  at  home,  but  has 
given  orders  that  she  won't  see  any  one  ?  " 

Such,  the  man  admitted,  was  the  case. 

"  She  '11  see  me,"  Riatt  answered,  "  take  my 
name  up." 

The  footman,  looking  still  more  wretched, 
obeyed.  Riatt  heard  him  go  into  the  little  draw- 
ing-room overhead,  and  then  there  was  a  long 
pause.  Once  he  thought  he  heard  a  voice  raised 
in  anger.  As  may  be  imagined  his  own  anger  was 
not  appeased  by  this  reception. 

While  he  was  waiting,  the  door  of  a  room  next 
the  front-door  opened  and  Mr.  Fenimer  came  out. 

191 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

His  astonishment  at  seeing  Riatt  was  so  great 
that  with  all  his  tact  he  could  not  repress  an  ex- 
clamation, which  somehow  did  not  express  pleas- 
ure. 

"  You  here,  my  dear  Riatt  I  "  he.  said,  grasping 
him  cordially  by  the  hand.  "  Christine,  I  'm 
afraid—" 

"  I  Ve  sent  up  to  see,"  said  Max,  curtly. 

"  Ah,  well,  my  dear  fellow,"  Mr.  Fenimer  went 
on  easily,  "  come,  you  know,  a  man  really  can't 
go  off  in  the  casual  way  you  did  and  expect  to  find 
everything  just  as  he  likes  when  he  comes  back. 
I  have  a  word  to  say  to  you  myself.  Shall  we 
walk  as  far  as  the  corner  together?  " 

To  receive  his  dismissal  from  Mr.  Fenimer  was 
something  that  Riatt  had  never  contemplated. 

"  I  should  prefer  to  wait  until  the  footman 
comes  down,"  he  answered. 

"  No  use,  no  use,"  said  Mr.  Fenimer,  suddenly 
becoming  jovial,  "  I  happen  to  know  that  Chris- 
tine is  out.  Come  back  a  little  later — " 

"  And  whose  hat  is  that,  then?  "  asked  Max. 

It  had  been  carelessly  left  on  its  crown  and  the 
initials  "  L.L."  were  plainly  visible. 

192 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Mr.  Fenimer  could  not  on  the  instant  think  of 
an  answer,  and  Riatt  decided  to  go  upstairs  un- 
announced. 

As  he  opened  the  drawing-room  door  he  heard 
Christine's  voice  saying:  "  Thank  you,  I  shall 
please  myself,  Lee,  even  without  your  kind  per- 


mission." 


The  doors  in  the  Fenimer  house  opened  silently, 
so  that  though  Christine,  who  was  facing  the 
door,  saw  him  at  once,  Linburne,  whose  back  was 
turned  to  it,  was  unaware  of  his  presence,  and 
answered: 

"  You  ought  to  have  more  pride  than  to  want 
to  see  a  fellow  who  has  made  it  so  clear  he  does  n't 
care  sixpence  about  seeing  you." 

Christine  openly  smiled  at  Max,  as  she  an- 
swered: "Well,  I  do  want  to  see  him,"  and 
Linburne  turning  to  see  at  what  her  smile 
was  directed  found  himself  face  to  face  with 
Riatt. 

Max  made  a  gesture  to  the  footman,  and  shut 
the  door  behind  his  hasty  retreat,  then  he  came 
slowly  into  the  room. 

"In  one  thing  you  are  mistaken,   Mr.  Lin- 

193 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

burne,"  he  said.  "  I  do  care  whether  or  not  I 
see  Miss  Fenimer." 

Linburne  was  angry  at  Christine,  not  only  for 
insisting  on  seeing  Riatt,  but  for  the  lovely  smile 
with  which  she  had  greeted  him.  He  was  glad 
of  an  outlet  for  his  feelings. 

He  almost  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  An  out- 
sider can  only  judge  by  your  conduct,  Mr.  Riatt," 
he  answered.  "  And  I  may  tell  you  that  you  have 
subjected  Miss  Fenimer  to  a  good  deal  of  disa- 
greeable gossip  by  your  apparently  caring  so  lit- 
tle." 

"And  others  by  apparently  caring  so  much," 
said  Max. 

Christine  was  the  only  one  who  recognized  at 
once  the  fact  that  both  men  were  angry;  and  she 
did  not  pour  oil  on  the  waters  by  laughing  gaily. 
"  You  can't  find  any  subject  for  argument  there," 
she  observed,  "  for  you  are  both  perfectly  right. 
You  have  both  made  me  the  subject  of  gossip; 
but  don't  let  it  worry  you,  for  my  best  friends 
have  long  ago  accustomed  me  to  that." 

"  I  hope  you  won't  think  I  'm  asking  too  much, 
-  Riatt,"  said  Linburne,  with  a  politeness  that 
194 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

only  accentuated  his  irritation,  "  in  suggesting  that 
as  your  visit  is,  I  believe,  unexpected,  and  as  mine 
is  an  appointment  of  some  standing,  that  you  will 
go  away  and  let  me  finish  my  conversation  with 
Miss  Fenimer." 

Max  smiled.  "  Oddly  enough,"  he  said,  "  I 
was  about  to  make  the  same  request  to  you.  But 
I  suppose  we  must  let  Miss  Fenimer  settle  the 
question." 

Christine  smiled  like  an  angel.  "  Can't  we  have 
a  nice  time  as  we  are?"  she  asked. 

This  frivolous  reply  was  properly  ignored  by 
both  men,  and  Riatt  went  on :  "  Don't  you  think 
you  ought  to  consider  the  fact  that  Miss  Fenimer 
and  I  are  engaged?  " 

"  Miss  Fenimer  assures  me  she  does  not  intend 
to  marry  you." 

"  And  may  I  ask  if  you  consider  that  she  does 
intend  to  marry  you  —  that  is  if  you  should  hap- 
pen to  become  marriageable?  " 

"  That  is  a  question  between  her  and  me,"  re- 
turned Linburne. 

Riatt  laughed.  "  I  see,"  he  said.  "  The  mat- 
rimonial plans  of  my  future  wife  are  no  affair  of 

195 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

mine?  "  And  for  an  instant  he  felt  his  most  pro- 
prietary rights  were  being  invaded. 

"  Miss  Fenimer  is  not  your  future  wife." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Linburne,  I  hear  you  say  so." 

"  You  shall  hear  her  say  so,"  answered  Lin- 
burne. "  Christine,"  he  added  peremptorily, 
"  tell  Riatt  what  you  have  just  been  telling  me." 

There  was  a  long  painful  silence.  Both  men 
stood  looking  intently  at  Christine,  who  sat  with 
her  head  erect,  staring  ahead  of  her  like  a  sphinx, 
but  saying  nothing.  After  a  moment  she  glanced 
up  at  Max's  face,  as  if  she  expected  to  find  there 
an  answer  to  her  problem.  She  did  not  look  at 
Linburne. 

"  Christine,"  said  Max  very  gently,  "  what  have 
you  told  Mr.  Linburne?  " 

"  She  has  told  me  everything,"  answered  Lin- 
burne impetuously,  and  then  seeing  by  the  glance 
that  the  two  others  exchanged  that  such  was  not 
the  case,  his  temper  got  the  best  of  him. 

"  Do  you  mean  you  Ve  been  lying  to  me?  "  he 
asked. 

"  Just  what  did  you  tell  him,  Christine?  "  said 
Riatt,  finding  it  easier  and  easier  to  be  calm  and 

196 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 


protecting  as  his  adversary  grew  more  violent. 

Christine  looked  up  at  him  with  the  innocence 
of  a  child.  "  I  told  him  that  we  did  not  love 
each  other,  and  that  our  engagement  was  really 
broken,  but  that  no  one  was  to  know  until  March." 

"  Why  did  you  tell  him  that?  " 

"It's  the  truth,  Max  —  almost  the  truth." 

"Almost  the  truth!"  cried  Linburne.  "Do 
you  want  me  to  think  you  care  something  for  this 
man  after  all?" 

"  In  the  simple  section  of  the  country  from 
which  I  come,"  observed  Riatt,  "we  often  care 
a  good  deal  for  the  people  we  marry." 

Linburne  turned  on  him.  "  Really,  Mr.  Riatt," 
he  said,  "  you  don't  take  an  idea  very  quickly. 
You  have  just  heard  Miss  Fenimer  say  that  she 
did  not  love  you  and  that  she  considered  your 
engagement  at  an  end." 

("  I  heard  her  say  she  had  told  you  that." 
"  You  mean  to  imply  that  she  said  what  was 
untrue?" 

"  I  could  answer  your  question  better,"  said 
Riatt,  "  if  I  understood  a  little  more  clearly  what 
your  connection  with  this  whole  situation  is." 

197 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  The  connection  of  any  old  friend  who  does 
not  care  to  see  Miss  Fenimer  neglected  and  humili- 
ated," answered  Linburne,  all  the  more  hotly  be- 
cause he  knew  it  was  an  awkward  question. 

Perhaps  the  young  poet  had  not  been  so  wrong 
in  attaching  the  name  of  Helen  to  Miss  Fenimer, 
for  she  sat  now  as  calmly  interested  in  the  con- 
flict developing  before  her,  as  Helen  when  she 
sat  on  the  walls  of  Troy  and  designated  the  Greek 
heroes  for  the  amusement  of  her  newer  friends. 

"  May  I  ask,  Mr.  Riatt,  what  rights  in  the 
matter  you  consider  that  you  have?"  Linburne 
pursued. 

For  Riatt,  too,  the  question  was  an  awkward 
one,  but  he  had  his  answer  ready.  "  The  rights," 
he  said,  "  of  a  man  who  certainly  was  once  engaged 
to  Miss  Fenimer,  and  who  came  East  ignorant 
that  the  engagement  was  already  at  an  end." 

Christine  laughed.  "  Very  neatly  put,"  she 
said. 

"  Neatly  put,"  exclaimed  Linburne.  "  You  talk 
as  if  we  were  playing  a  game." 

4  You  have  the  reputation  of  playing  all  games 
well,  my  dear  Lee,"  she  returned.  The  obvious 

198 


May  I  ask,  Mr.  Riatt,  what  rights  in  the  matter  you  consider  that 
you  have  ?  "  Linburne  pursued 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

fact  that  she  was  enjoying  the  interview,  made 
both  men  eager  to  end  it — but,  unfortunately, 
they  wished  to  end  it  in  diametrically  opposite 
ways. 

"  Christine,"  said  Linburne,  "  will  you  ask  Mr. 
Riatt  to  be  so  kind  as  to  let  me  have  ten  minutes 
alone  with  you  ?  " 

Riatt  spoke  to  her  also.  "  I  will  do  exactly  as 
you  say,"  he  said,  "  but  you  understand  that  if  I 
go  now,  I  shall  not  come  back." 

Christine  smiled.  "  Is  that  a  threat  or  a  prom- 
ise? "  she  asked,  the  sweetness  of  her  smile  almost 
taking  away  the  sting  of  her  words. 

Seeing  that  she  hesitated,  Riatt  went  on: 
"  Since  I  have  come  more  than  a  thousand  miles 
to  see  you,  don't  you  think  you  might  suggest  to 
Mr.  Linburne  that  he  let  me  have  my  yisit  undis- 
turbed?" 

There  was  a  long  and  rather  terrible  pause, 
terrible  that  is  to  the  two  men.  Christine  prob- 
ably enjoyed  every  second  of  it  There  was  noth- 
ing in  Linburne's  experience  of  life  to  make  him 
think  that  any  woman  whom  he  had  honored  with 
his  preference  was  likely  to  prefer  another  man 

20 1 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

to  himself.  So  the  pause  was  terrible  to  him, 
not  because  he  doubted  what  the  climax  would 
be,  but  because  he  felt  his  dignity  insulted  by  even 
an  appearance  of  hesitation.  Max,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  still  a  good  deal  in  doubt  as  to  her 
ultimate  intentions. 

It  was  to  him,  finally,  that  she  spoke. 

"  Max,"  she  said,  "  do  you  remember  that 
while  we  were  staying  at  the  Usshers'  we  com- 
posed a  certain  document  together?" 

He  nodded,  and  then  as  she  did  not  continue, 
he  opened  his  pocketbook  and  took  out  the  re- 
lease. 

She  made  no  motion  to  take  it ;  on  the  contrary, 
she  leaned  back  and  crossed  her  hands  in  her 
lap. 

"  jYes,"  she  said,  "  that 's  it.  Well,  you  may 
stay,  if  you  care  to  burn  that  scrap  of  paper." 

It  was  now  Max's  turn  to  hesitate,  for  the  deci- 
sion of  freedom  or  captivity  was  in  his  own  hands; 
the  crisis  he  had  so  recklessly  rushed  to  meet  was 
now  upon  him. 

"  What  is  in  that  paper?  "  asked  Linburne,  as 
one  who  has  a  right  to  question. 

202 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Christine  was  perfectly  good-tempered  as  she 
answered :  "  Well,  Lee,  it  still  belongs  to  Mr. 
Riatt;  but  if  he  decides  not  to  burn  it,  I  promise 
to  tell  you  all  about  it  as  we  drink  our  tea.n 

"  Do  you  promise  me  that,  Christine?" 

"  Most  solemnly,  Lee."  She  looked  up  at  Lin- 
burne,  and  before  Max  knew  what  he  was  doing 
he  found  he  had  dropped  the  paper  into  the 
fire. 

Strangely  enough,  though  the  fire  was  hot,  the 
paper  did  not  catch  at  once,  but  curled  and  rocked 
an  instant  in  the  heat,  before  it  disappeared  in 
flame  and  smoke.  Not  until  it  was  a  black  crisp 
did  Christine  turn  to  Linburne,  and  hold  out  her 
hand. 

"  Good-by,  Lee,"  she  said  pleasantly.  But  he 
did  not  answer  or  take  her  hand.  He  left  the 
room  in  silence. 

When  the  door  had  shut  behind  him,  Christine 
glanced  at  her  remaining  visitor.  "  And  now," 
she  said,  "  I  suppose  you  are  wishing  you  had 


not." 


"  What  sort  of  a  woman  are  you  ?  "  Riatt  ex- 
claimed.    "Will  you  take  any  man  that  offers, 

203 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

me  or  Hickson,  or  Linburne  or  me  again,  just  as 
luck  will  have  it?" 

"  I  take  the  best  that  offers,  Max  —  and  that 's 
no  lie." 

The  implied  compliment  did  not  soften  Riatt. 
He  went  on:  "If  you  and  I  are  really  to  be 
married  — " 

"  If,  my  dear  Max!  What  could  be  more  cer- 
tain?" 

"  Since,  then,  we  are  to  be  married,  you  must 
tell  me  exactly  what  has  taken  place  between  you 
and  Linburne." 

"With  pleasure.  Won't  you  sit  down?" 
She  pointed  to  a  chair  near  her  own,  but  Riatt 
remained  standing.  "Shall  we  have  tea  first?" 

"  We  '11  have  the  story." 

"  Oh,  it 's  not  much  of  a  story.  Lee  and  I 
have  known  each  other  since  we  were  children. 
I  suppose  I  always  had  it  in  mind  that  I  might 
marry  him  — " 

"You  loved  him?" 

"  Certainly  not.  He  always  had  too  high  an 
opinion  of  himself,  and  I  used  to  enjoy  taking  it 
out  of  him  —  and  making  it  up  to  him  afterwards, 

204 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

too.  I  used  to  enjoy  that  as  well.  Sometimes, 
of  course,  he  found  the  process  too  unbearable; 
and  in  one  of  his  fits  of  anger  at  me,  just  after 
he  left  college,  he  went  and  blundered  into  this 
marriage  with  Pauline.  She,  you  see,  took  him 
at  his  own  valuation.  His  marriage  seemed  to 
put  an  end  to  everything  between  us  — " 

"  You  surprise  me." 

Christine  laughed.  "  Ah,  I  was  younger 
then." 

"  You  kept  on  seeing  him?  " 

"  Naturally  we  met  now  and  then.  Sometimes 
he  used  to  tell  me  how  I  was  the  only  woman — " 

"  That  is  your  idea  of  putting  an  end  to  every- 
thing? " 

"  Oh,  if  one  took  seriously  all  the  men  who 
say  that  —  I  did  not  think  much  about  Lee's 
feelings  for  me,  until  my  engagement  was  an- 
nounced. Then  it  appeared  that  the  notion  of 
my  marrying  some  one  else  was  intolerable  to 
him." 

"  A  high  order  of  affection,"  exclaimed  Riatt. 
"  He  was  content  enough  until  there  seemed  some 
chance  of  your  being  happy." 

205 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Perhaps  he  did  not  consider  that  life  with 
you  would  promise  absolute  happiness,  Max." 

"  I  don't  call  that  love.     I  call  it  jealousy." 

At  this  Christine  laughed  outright.  "  And 
what  emotion,  may  I  ask,  has  just  brought  you 
here  in  such  haste  ?  " 

The  thrust  went  home.  Riatt  changed  coun- 
tenance. 

"  But  I,"  he  said,  "  never  pretended  to  love 
you." 

"  Why  then  are  you  marrying  me?  " 

"  Heaven  knows." 

"  I  know,  too,"  she  answered,  unperturbed  by 
his  rudeness,  "  and  some  day  if  you  're  good  I  '11 
tell  you." 

Her  calm  assumption  that  everything  was  well 
seemed  to  him  unbearable.  "  I  don't  know  that 
I  feel  very  much  inclined  to  chat,"  he  said,  turning 
toward  the  door.  "  I  '11  see  you  sometime  to- 
morrow." 

She  said  nothing  to  oppose  him,  and  he  left  the 
room.  Downstairs  the  same  footman  was  wait- 
ing to  let  him  out.  To  him,  at  least,  Riatt  seemed 
a  triumphant  lover,  only  as  Linburne  had  long 

206 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

since  heavily  subsidized  him,  even  his  admiration 
was  tinctured  with  regret. 

As  for  Max,  himself,  he  left  the  house  even 
more  restless  and  dissatisfied  than  he  had  entered 
it. 

To  be  honest,  he  had,  he  knew,  sometimes 
imagined  a  moment  when  he  would  take  Christine 
in  his  arms  and  say:  "Marry  me  anyhow." 
'Such  an  action  he  knew  would  be  reckless,  but 
he  had  supposed  it  would  be  pleasant.  But  now 
there  was  nothing  but  bitterness  and  jealousy  in 
his  mood.  What  did  he  know  or  care  for  such 
people  ?  he  said  to  himself.  What  did  he  know  of 
their  standards  and  their  histories?  How  much 
of  Christine's  story  about  Linburne  was  to  be 
believed  ?  What  more  natural  than  that  they  had 
always  loved  each  other?  Some  one  knew  the 
truth  • —  every  one,  very  likely,  except  himself. 
But  whom  could  he  ask?  He  could  have  be- 
lieved Nancy  on  one  side  as  little  as  Laura  on 
the  other. 

And  as  he  thought  this,  he  saw  coming  down  the 
street,  Hickson  —  a  witness  prejudiced,  perhaps, 
but  strictly  honest. 

207 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

For  the  first  time  in  their  short  acquaintance, 
Hickson's  face  brightened  at  the  sight  of  Riatt, 
and  he  called  out  with  evident  sincerity:  "  I  am 
glad  to  see  you." 

"  I  came  on  rather  unexpectedly." 
"  I  'm  glad  you  did.     Quite  right."     Hickson 
stopped  at  this,  and  looked  at  his  companion  with 
such  wistful  uncertainty,  that  it  seemed  perfectly 
natural  for  Riatt,  answering  that  look,  to  say: 
"  You  may  speak  frankly  to  me,  you  know." 
Ned  took  a  long  breath.     "  I  believe  that  I 
may,"  he  said.     "  I  hope  so,  anyhow.     I  have  n't 
had  any  one  I  could  be  frank  with.     Between  our- 
selves, Fenimer  is  no  good  at  all." 
"What,  my  future  father-in-law?" 
"  Is  that  what  he  is?  "  Hickson  asked  with,  for 
him,  unusual  directness. 

Riatt's  affirmative  was  not  very  decided,  and 
Ned  went  on: 

"  I  can't  even  talk  to  Nancy  about  it.  She  's 
keen,  but  she  does  not  understand  Christine.  She 
attributes  the  most  shocking  motives  to  her,  and 
when  I  object,  she  says  every  one  is  like  that, 
only  I  have  n't  sense  enough  to  see  it.  Well,  I 

208 

I 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

never  pretended  to  have  as  much  sense  as  Nancy, 
but  I  see  some  things  that  she  does  n't.  I  see,  for 
instance,  that  there  's  something  noble  in  Chris- 
tine, in  spite  of  —  I  beg  your  pardon  for  talking 
to  you  like  this,  but  you  must  remember  that  I 
have  known  her  a  good  deal  longer  than  you  have, 
and  that  in  a  different  way  perhaps  I  care  for 
her  almost  as  much  as  you  do." 

"  I  told  you  to  speak  frankly,"  answered  Riatt. 
"  What  is  it  that  Mrs.  Almar  says  of  Christine?  " 

At  first  Hickson  refused  to  answer,  but  the 
suffering  and  anxiety  he  had  been  undergoing 
pushed  him  toward  self-expression,  and  Riatt  did 
not  have  to  be  very  skilful  to  extract  the  whole 
story.  Nancy  had  asserted  that  Christine  had 
never  intended  for  a  minute  to  marry  Riatt— - 
that  she  had  just  used  him  to  excite  Linburne's 
jealousy  to  such  a  point  that  he  would  arrange 
matters  so  that  he  could  marry  her  himself.  For 
once  Riatt  found  himself  in  accord  with  Nancy. 

"  Do  more  people  than  your  sister  think  that?  " 

Hickson  was  not  without  his  reserves.  "  Oh, 
I  dare  say,  but  I  don't  care  about  that  sort  of 
gossip.  It 's  absurd  to  say  she  and  Lmburne  are 

209 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

engaged.  How  can  a  girl  be  engaged  to  a  mar- 
ried man?  " 

"  We  must  move  with  the  times,  my  dear  Hick- 
son,"  said  Riatt  bitterly. 

"  Linburne  's  no  good,"  Ned  went  on,  "  not 
where  women  are  concerned.  He  would  n't  treat 
her  well  if  he  did  marry  her.  Why,  Riatt,"  he 
added  solemnly,  "  I  'd  far  rather  see  her  married 
to  you  than  to  him." 

If  Max  felt  disposed  to  smile  at  this  innocent 
endorsement,  he  suppressed  the  inclination,  and 
merely  answered: 

1  You  may  have  your  wish." 

"  I  hope  so,"  said  Ned.  "  But  you  must  n't  go 
off  to  kingdom-come,  and  leave  Linburne  a  clear 
field.  He  's  a  man  who  knows  how  to  talk  to 
women,  and  what  with  the  infatuation  she  has  al- 
ways had  for  him — " 

"  You  think  she  has  always  cared  for  him?  " 
asked  Max.  He  tried  to  smooth  his  tone  down 
to  one  of  calm  interest,  but  it  alarmed  Hickson. 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  returned  hastily.  "  I  used 
to  think  so,  but  I  may  be  wrong.  I  thought  the 
same  thing  about  you  at  the  Usshgrs'.  She  kept 

210 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

saying  she  was  n't  a  bit  in  love  with  you,  but  it 
seemed  to  me  she  was  different  with  you  from 
what  she  had  ever  been  with  any  one  else.  I 
suppose  I  oughtn't  to  have  said  that  either. 
Upon  my  word,  Riatt,  it  is  awfully  good  of  you 
to  let  me  talk  like  this  I  I  can  assure  you  it  is  a 
great  relief  to  me." 

His  companion  could  hardly  have  echoed  this 
sentiment.  As  he  walked  back  alone  to  his  hotel, 
he  found  that  Hickson's  words  had  put  the  last 
touches  to  his  mental  discomfort, 

At  first  his  own  conduct  had  seemed  inexplicable 
to  him.  Everything  had  been  going  well,  he  had 
been  just  about  to  be  free  from  the  whole  entangle- 
ment, when  an  impulse  of  primitive  jealousy  and 
fierce  masculine  egotism  had  suddenly  brought  him 
to  New  York  and  bound  him  hand  and  foot.  It 
had  not  been  an  agreeable  prospect  —  to  live 
among  people  whose  standards  he  did  not  under- 
stand, with  a  woman  whom  he  did  not  love.  But, 
since  his  conversation  with  Hickson,  his  eyes  were 
opened,  and  he  saw  the  situation  in  far  more 
tragic  colors. 

He  did  love  her.     He  did  not  believe  in  her 

211 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

or  trust  her;  he  had  no  illusions  as  to  her  feeling 
for  him,  but  his  for  her  was  clear  —  he  loved 
her,  loved  her  with  that  strange  mingling  of  pas- 
sion and  hatred  so  often  found  and  so  rarely  ad- 
mitted. 

He  could  imagine  a  man's  learning,  even  under 
the  most  suspicious  circumstances,  to  conquer  jeal- 
ousy of  a  woman  who  loved  him.  Or  he  could 
imagine  having  confidence  in  a  woman  who  did 
not  pretend  love.  But  to  be  married  to  a  woman 
whom  you  love,  without  a  shed  of  belief  either  in 
her  principles  or  her  affection,  seemed  to  Riatt 
about  as  terrible  a  prospect  as  could  be  offered  to 
a  human  being. 

There  was  just  one  chance  for  him  —  that 
Christine  might  be  willing  to  release  him.  If  she 
really  loved  Linburne,  if  there  had  been  some  sort 
of  understanding  between  them  in  the  past,  if  his 
coming  had  only  precipitated  a  lovers1  quarrel, 
then  certainly  Christine  had  too  much  intelligence 
to  let  such  a  chance  slip  through  her  fingers  just 
on  the  eve  of  Linburne's  divorce.  Nor  was  she, 
he  thought  bitterly,  too  proud  to  stoop  to  ask  a 
man  to  reconsider ;  nor  did  it  seem  likely,  however 

212 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

deeply  Linburne's  vanity  had  been  wounded,  that 
he  would  refuse  to  listen. 

With  this  in  mind,  as  soon  as  he  reached  his 
hotel,  he  sat  down  and  wrote  her  a  letter : 

"My  dear  Christine: 

"  What  was  it,  according  to  your  idea,  that 
happened  this  afternoon?  I  believed  that  for  the 
first  time  I  asked  you  to  marry  me,  and  that  you, 
for  the  first  time  definitely  accepted  me.  But  as 
I  think  over  your  manner,  I  am  led  to  think  you 
supposed  it  was  just  a  continuation  of  our  old 
joke. 

"Did  you  accept  me,  Christine?  And  if  so, 
why?  Why  commit  yourself  to  a  marriage  with- 
out affection,  at  the  psychological  moment  when 
a  man  for  whom  you  have  always  cared  is  about 
to  be  free? 

"  If  you  still  need  me  in  the  game,  I  am  ready 
enough  to  be  of  use,  but  I  will  not  be  bound  to  a 
relation  unless  you,  too,  consider  it  irrevocably 
binding. 

"  Yours, 
"  M.  R." 

He  told  the  messenger  to  wait  for  an  answer, 
but  he  thought  that  Christine  would  hardly  be 

213 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

willing  to  commit  herself  on  such  short  notice, 
or  without  an  interview  with  Linburne. 

But,  within  a  surprisingly  short  interval,  her 
letter  was  in  his  impatient  hands. 

"Dear  Max: 

"  I  will  not  be  so  cruel  as  to  leave  you  one 
moment  longer  in  the  false  hope  that  your  little 
break  for  freedom  may  be  successful.  Face  the 
fact,  bravely,  my  dear.  I  am  going  to  marry 
you.  We  are  both  irrevocably  bound  —  at  least 
as  irrevocably  as  the  marriage  tie  can  bind  nowa- 
days. If  this  afternoon  my  manner  seemed  less 
portentous  than  you  expected,  that  must  have  been 
because  I  have  always  counted  on  just  this  termi- 
nation to  our  little  adventure.  You  must  do  me 
the  justice  to  confess  that  I  have  always  told  you 
so.  As  for  Lee,  in  spite  of  Nancy  (I  suppose  it 
was  Nancy  to  whom  you  rushed  for  information 
from  my  very  doorstep)  I  have  never  cared  six- 
pence for  him. 

"  Yours  till  death  us  do  part, 

"  CHRISTINE." 

Max  read  the  letter  which  was  brought  to  him 
while  he  was  at  dinner.  He  put  it  into  his  pocket, 
finished  an  excellent  salad,  went  to  the  theater, 

214 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

came  back  to  the  hotel  and  went  to  bed  and  to 
sleep  rather  congratulating  himself  on  the  fact 
that  he  had  become  callous  to  the  whole  situation, 
and  that,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  the  crisis  was 
past. 

But  of  course  it  was  n't.  With  the  rattle  of  the 
first  milkcart,  which  in  a  modern  city  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  half-awakened  bird,  he  woke  up, 
and  if  he  had  been  in  jail  he  could  not  have  felt 
a  more  choking  sense  of  imprisonment.  There 
was  no  escape  for  him,  no  hope. 

He  got  up  and  looked  out  at  the  city  far  below, 
all  outlined  like  a  great  electric  sign  that  said 
nothing.  There  must  be  some  way  of  being  free, 
besides  jumping  from  the  twelfth  story  window. 
He  lit  a  cigarette,  and  stood  thinking.  Men  dis- 
appeared every  day;  it  could  be  done.  What 
were  the  chances,  he  wondered,  of  being  identified 
if  he  shipped  as  steward,  or  engineer  for  that 
matter,  on  a  South  American  freighter? 

It  was  full  daylight  before  he  found  himself 
in  possession  of  a  possible  scheme.  He  remem- 
bered the  legend  of  a  certain  Saint,  told  him  by 
his  nurse  in  his  early  days.  She  had  been  beauti- 

215 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

ful,  too  beautiful  for  her  religious  ideals ;  the  num- 
ber of  her  suitors  was  distracting;  so  to  one  of 
them  who  had  extravagantly  admired  her  eyes  she 
sent  them  on  a  salver. 

Riatt  did  not  intend  sending  Christine  his 
worldly  goods,  but  recognizing  that  they  were  the 
source  of  the  whole  trouble,  he  decided  to  get  rid 
of  the  major  part.  The  problem  was  simply  to 
lose  his  money  before  the  date  set  for  the  wedding. 
And  that  was  not  so  difficult,  after  all.  There 
were  a  number  of  people  in  the  metropolis  he 
thought  who  would  give  him  every  assistance. 

The  problem  of  getting  it  back  again  at  some 
future  time  was  more  complicated,  but  even  that 
he  thought  he  could  accomplish.  He  had  made 
one  fortune  and  he  supposed  he  could  some  day 
make  another. 

The  practical  question  was :  What  sum  would 
make  him  impossible  to  Christine  as  a  husband? 
Twenty  thousand  a  year  would  be  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. But  to  be  perfectly  safe  he  decided  to  leave 
himself  only  fifteen  thousand.  He  would  begin 
operation  as  soon  as  the  exchange  opened  in  the 
morning.  In  the  meantime  what  about  that  mine 

216 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

of  Welsley's?     There  was  an  easy  means  of  sink- 
ing almost  any  sum. 

He  took  up  the  telephone  and  sent  a  telegram 
at  once. 

"  Plans  for  my  wedding  prevent  trip  to  mine. 
Have,  however,  decided  after  minute  investigation 
here  to  invest  $500,000  in  it.  Believe  we  shall 
make  our  fortunes." 

He  stood  an  instant  with  the  instrument  still  in 
his  hand.  "  Suppose  the  damned  thing  succeeds," 
he  thought,  "  I  shall  be  worse  off  than  ever." 

Then  his  faith  returned  to  him.  "  Nothing  of 
Welsley's  ever  did  succeed,"  he  thought;  and  with 
this  conclusion  he  went  back  to  bed  and  slept  like 
a  child. 


217 


CHAPTER  VI 

WITH  his  definite  decision  and  unalterable 
plan  of  action,  wonderful  peace  of  mind 
has  come  to  Riatt.  He  said  to  himself  that  he 
was  now  to  have  a  few  weeks  —  whatever  time 
it  should  take  him  to  lose  his  fortune  decently  — 
of  being  engaged  to  a  woman  whom,  he  now 
acknowledged,  he  passionately  loved.  He  in- 
tended to  make  the  best  of  it. 

The  next  day  as  he  walked  up  Fifth  Avenue  on 
his  way  to  lunch  with  her,  another  inspiration 
came  to  him;  it  was  not  necessary  to  lose  his 
money;  spending  it  would  be  quite  as  effective. 
Acting  on  this  idea,  he  went  into  a  celebrated 
jeweler's  shop,  and  with  astonishing  celerity  chose, 
paid  for  and  pocketed  a  string  of  brilliant  pearls. 

It  was  a  present  that  might  have  made  any  man 
welcome  —  and  Christine  had  never  be" "  accused 
of  not  being  able  to  express  herself  vvhen  she 
wanted  to  —  but  Christine  had  already  welcomed 
him  for  his  changed  demeanor;  his  brilliant  smile 

218 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

and  unruffled  brow  told  her  as  soon  as  she  saw 
him  that  he  was  a  very  different  person  from  the 
tortured  and  irritable  creature  who  had  left  her 
the  preceding  afternoon. 

Never  were  two  people  more  disposed  to  find 
each  other  and  themselves  agreeable,  and  Riatt 
was  in  process  of  clasping  the  pearls  about  Chris- 
tine's neck  (for  she  had  had  some  unaccountable 
difficulty  in  doing  it  for  herself)  when  the  draw- 
ing-room door  opened  and  Nancy  Almar  strolled 
in. 

Her  jaw  did  not  actually  drop  at  the  scene  that 
met  her  eyes,  for  that  did  not  happen  to  be  her 
method  of  expressing  surprise,  but  her  manner  con- 
veyed none  the  less  an  astonishment  not  very 
agreeable. 

"  Was  I  mistaken,"  she  said,  "  in  thinking  I 
was  to  stop  and  take  you  to  the  Bentons'  ?  " 

"Quite  right,  my  dear.  Only  Max's  return 
has  put  everything  else  out  of  my  head." 

"  What,  you  did  n't  ever  expect  him  to  come 
back?" 

"  You  talk,  Nancy,  as  if  you  had  never  heard 
that  we  were  engaged." 

219 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  If  you  really  are,  Christine,  why  are  the  Lin- 
burnes  being  divorced?  " 

"  Because  they  loathe  each  other,  I  imagine." 

u  What  a  changeable  creature  you  are,  Chris- 
tine !  It  seems  only  the  other  day  that  you  were 
crying  your  eyes  out  because  Lee  was  engaged." 

Without  glancing  at  Max,  Christine  became 
aware  that  some  of  the  gaiety  had  gone  from  his 
expression. 

"Have  you  seen  my  pearls,  dear?"  she  said. 

It  was  a  complete  answer,  so  far  as  Nancy  was 
concerned,  for  she  was  one  of  the  women  who  can 
never  harden  herself  to  the  sight  of  another 
woman's  jewels. 

"  How  beautiful,  love,"  she  answered.  "  If 
they  were  only  a  trifle  larger  they  might  be  mis- 
taken for  your  old  imitation  string."  Then  feel- 
ing that  she  could  never  better  this,  she  took  her 
departure. 

"  Oh,  dear,"  sighed  Christine,  "  do  you  think 
I  shall  ever  get  so  superior  that  Nancy  can't  tease 
me  when  she  says  things  like  that?  " 

"  Did  you  really  cry,  Christine?  " 

"  The  night  you  went  away?  " 
220 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  When  you  first  heard  of  Linburne's  engage- 
ment ?" 

She  nodded  at  him,  like  a  child  who  would  like 
to  lie  its  way  out  of  a  scrape. 

"  But  then  I  often  cry  over  trifles,"  she  added. 

u  Like  my  going  away?  " 

"  Really,  Max,  you  ought  to  be  able  to  under- 
stand why  I  cried  over  Lee's  engagement.  It  was 
Nancy  who  brought  me  the  news,  and  she  was  so 
triumphant  over  it.  She  said  every  one  would 
think  he  had  been  making  a  fool  of  me.  You 
know  she  has  the  power  of  teasing  me  more  than 
any  one  in  the  world  —  except,  perhaps,  you." 

"  I  have  a  piece  of  news  for  you,  Christine." 

"Good  or  bad?" 

"  Indifferent,  I  think  you  would  say.  It 's  a 
scientific  discovery." 

"An  invention,  Max?  Could  I  understand 
it?" 

"  I  think  you  can  if  you  make  an  effort." 

"What  is  it?" 

He  put  his  arms  suddenly  about  her.  "  I  find 
I  'm  in  love  with  you,"  he  said,  and  added  a 
moment  later:  "  And  just  think  that  I  Ve  been 

221 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

engaged  to  you  so  long  and  that 's  the  first  time 
I  Ve  kissed  you." 

Christine  with  her  head  still  buried  on  his  shoul- 
ders murmured,  "  But  it  won't  be  the  last." 

Riatt's  expression  changed.  "  Not  absolutely 
the  last,  perhaps,"  he  answered  with  something 
that  just  was  n't  a  sigh. 

She  looked  up  at  him.  "  That  piece  of  indif- 
ferent news  of  yours  — "  she  began. 

"  Didn't  I  describe  it  correctly?" 

"  It  was  n't  news  to  me." 

"  You  mean  you  had  already  guessed  that  I 
loved  you?  " 

"  I  Ve  always  known  it." 

"Always?" 

"  You  can't  think  I  would  ever  have  let  you 
go  away  at  all,  if  I  had  not  felt  sure.  And  if 
you  had  n't  loved  me,  I  could  n't  have  brought 
you  back." 

"  I  came  back  because  — " 

"  Because  the  Linburnes  were  getting  a  divorce, 
and  because  Laura  wrote  you  a  letter.  Do  you 
fancy  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  either  of  those 
events?" 

222 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

And  Riatt  found  himself  answering  almost  in 
the  word  of  Cyrano: 

" Non,  non,  mon  cher  amour,  je  ne  vous  aimais  pas" 

The  days  that  followed  were  the  happiest  that 
Riatt  had  ever  known.  Only  those  who  have 
lived  in  a  brief  and  agreeable  present  can  under- 
stand the  fullness  of  joy  that  he  was  able  to  extract 
from  it.  If  he  had  been  under  sentence  of  death 
he  could  not  have  given  less  thought  to  the  future. 
He  gave  himself  up  wholly  to  the  two  excitements 
of  making  love  and  losing  money. 

At  first  he  prospered  more  at  the  former  than 
the  latter.  For  at  first,  for  some  time  after  he 
had  acquired  the  stock  of  the  mine,  the  reports 
from  it  grew  more  and  more  favorable  and  old 
friends  came  to  him  and  begged  him  to  allow  them 
to  take  up  a  little  of  it.  His  curt  refusal  to  all 
such  propositions  increased  the  impression  that  he 
knew  he  had  a  very  good  thing  and  meant  to  keep 
it  all  for  himself. 

But  he  did  not  have  very  long  to  wait  for  the 
turn  of  the  tide.  Within  a  few  weeks  he  received 
a  letter  from  Welsley,  alarming  only  because  its 

223 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

intention  was  so  obviously  to  allay  alarm.  It 
appeared  that  a  liberal  revolution  was  threatened; 
the  concession  from  the  government  then  in  power 
would  not  bear  the  scrutiny  of  an  impartial  wit- 
ness such  as  our  own  State  Department.  If,  in 
other  words,  the  present  government  fell,  the  con- 
cession would  fall,  too. 

"  However,"  Welsley  wrote  cheerfully, 
"  though  the  revolution  has  the  support  of  the 
uneducated  element  of  the  population,  which  com- 
prises most  of  the  people,  as  they  have  neither 
arms,  ammunition  nor  money,  they  can't  do  much, 
unless  some  fool  in  the  north  is  induced  to  finance 
them.  You  could  help  us  a  lot  by  looking  about 
and  seeing  if  there  is  any  danger  of  such  a  thing." 

On  receipt  of  this,  Riatt  instantly  telegraphed  to 
Welsley  as  follows: 

"  Count  upon  me.  What  is  the  name  and  ad- 
dress of  the  revolutionary  agent  here?" 

The  next  day  in  a  back  bedroom  of  a  down- 
town hotel,  $10,000  changed  hands  between  a 
slight,  dark,  very  finished  gentleman  who  spoke 

224 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

English  with  the  slightest  possible  accent,  and  a 
tall,  fine-looking  young  American  whose  name 
never  appeared  in  the  transaction.  Within  a 
month  a  shipment  of  arms  had  been  smuggled  into 
a  certain  South  American  country,  with  the  result 
that  the  revolution  was  completely  successful  — 
as  indeed  it  deserved  to  be.  One  of  the  first  acts 
of  the  new  government  was  to  revoke  the  iniqui- 
tous concession  of  the  San  Pedro  gold  mine,  made 
to  "  a  group  of  greedy  North  American  capital- 
ists by  the  former  corrupt  and  evil  administra- 
tion." 

Riatt's  bearing  during  this  unhappy  experience 
was  universally  praised.  As  he  went  in  and  out 
of  his  broker's  office,  not  a  trace  of  anxiety  visible 
upon  his  countenance,  men  would  nudge  each  other 
and  whisper,  "  Did  you  ever  see  such  nerve?  He 
stands  to  lose  a  million." 

The  only  moment  of  regret  that  he  suffered  was 
when  one  day,  when  things  first  began  to  look 
badly,  he  met  Linburne  and  another  man  in  Wall 
Street,  and  there  was  something  subtly  insulting 
and  triumphant  in  the  former's  manner  of  con- 
doling with  him  about  the  situation. 

225, 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

Rumors  of  it  reached  Christine.  She  liked  the 
picture  of  Riatt's  courage  and  calm,  and  hated 
the  danger  of  his  losing  money. 

"  You  're  not  risking  too  much,  are  you,  Max?  " 
she  asked. 

"  Would  n't  you  enjoy  love  in  a  cottage,  Chris- 
tine? "  he  answered. 

She  tried  to  make  it  clear  to  him  how  little  such 
a  prospect  would  tempt  her,  and  gathered  from 
the  fact  that  he  hardly  listened  to  her  reply  that 
he  felt  confident  there  was  no  real  danger. 

With  the  success  of  the  revolution,  Riatt  re- 
alized that  his  holiday  was  over,  that  he  must 
tell  Christine  the  truth  and  then  retire  to  his  old 
home  and  begin  a  new  method  of  life  on  his  de- 
creased income. 

It  was  now  early  April  —  a  warm  advanced 
spring  —  when  he  decided  that  the  next  day  should 
see  the  end  of  his  little  drama.  But,  as  we  all 
know,  it  sometimes  happens  that  those  who  set 
a  mine  are  the  most  startled  by  the  explosion;  and 
Riatt,  at  an  early  breakfast  (for  he  and  Christine 
were  going  into  the  country  for  the  day),  with 
a  mind  occupied  with  the  phrases  in  which  he 

226 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

should  bid  her  good-by  and  eyes  lazily  reading 
the  newspaper,  was  suddenly  startled  beyond 
words  by  a  short  paragraph  on  the  financial  page. 
This  stated  in  the  baldest  terms  the  failure  of  his 
brokers  at  home. 

There  was  no  country  expedition  for  Riatt  that 
day.  He  rushed  down-town,  leaving  a  short  mes- 
sage for  Christine,  and  by  night  he  knew  the 
worst,  knew  that  the  liabilities  of  the  firm  far  ex- 
ceeded any  possible  assets,  knew  positively  that 
the  comfortable  sum  he  had  intended  to  preserve 
for  himself  had  been  swept  away,  knew  that  he 
now  really  had  to  begin  life  over. 

That  night  when  he  came  back  to  his  hotel,  he 
understood  for  the  first  time  that  he  had  through- 
out been  cherishing  an  unrecognized  hope;  that 
he  had  not  been  honest  with  himself,  and  that  all 
the  time  beneath  his  great  scheme  had  lain  the 
belief  that  when  the  truth  was  known  Christine 
would  prefer  him  and  his  moderate  income  to 
Linburne  and  his  wealth;  that,  in  short,  the  great 
scheme  had  been  all  the  time  not  a  method  of 
freeing  himself,  but  a  test  of  her  affection. 

Now  any  such  possibility  was  over.  Now  he 
227 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

himself  was  facing  the  problem  of  mere  existence 
—  at  least  he  would  be  as  soon  as  he  had  collected 
his  wits  enough  to  face  anything. 

The  next  day,  which  was  Sunday,  he  spent  en- 
tirely with  his  lawyer.  When  he  came  back  to  his 
hotel,  between  the  entrance  and  the  elevator  a 
figure  rose  in  his  path.  It  was  Hickson. 

"  Riatt,  I  'm  awfully  sorry  about  this,"  he  said. 

"  Thank  you,  Hickson.  It 's  very  decent  of 
you  to  be,"  Max  answered  as  cordially  as  he 
could,  but  he  was  tired  and  wanted  to  be  let  alone, 
and  there  was  not  as  much  real  gratitude  in  his 
heart  as  there  should  have  been.  He  did  not  ask 
Ned  to  sit  down  until  he  had  explained  with  his 
accustomed  simplicity  that  he  had  something  of 
importance  to  say.  Then  Riatt  let  him  lead  the 
way  to  one  of  those  remote  and  stuffy  sitting- 
rooms  in  which  all  hotels  abound.  He  saw  at 
once  that  Hickson  found  it  difficult  to  say  what 
he  had  come  to  say,  but  Riatt  was  in  no  humor 
this  time  to  help  him  out. 

"  I  'm  awfully  sorry  this  has  happened,"  Hick- 
son  went  on,  "  not  only  on  your  account,  but  on 
Christine's.  I  mean  that  I  did  begin  to  hope  that 

228 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

life  with  you  meant  peace  and  happiness  for 
her—" 

To  cut  him  short,  Riatt  said  quickly:  "  Now, 
of  course,  the  marriage  is  out  of  the  question." 

Hickson's  face  brightened,  as  if  the  difficult 
words  had  been  said  for  him.  "  You  do  feel 
that?  "  he  said,  nodding  a  little  as  if  to  encourage 
his  friend. 

Max  did  not  answer  at  first  in  words;  he 
laughed  rather  bitterly,  and  then  after  a  pause  he 
said,  "  Yes,  Hickson,  I  do." 

Ned  was  clearly  relieved.  "  Of  course,"  he 
said,  "  I  did  not  know  how  that  would  be.  But 
I  own  it  did  occur  to  me.  The  world  is  very  cen- 
sorious of  poor  Christine.  Every  one  will  say 
that  she  is  the  kind  of  woman  who  can't  stick  to 
a  man  in  adversity.  Yes,  I  assure  you,  Riatt,  lots 
of  these  women  who  can't  put  down  one  of  their 
motors  without  having  nervous  prostration  will 
pillory  Christine  for  breaking  her  engagement, 
unless — "  he  paused. 

"  I  don't  follow  your  idea,  Ned." 

Hickson  sighed.  "  Why,  as  long  as  you  recog- 
nize the  impossibility  of  the  marriage,  couldn't 

229 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

you  in  some  way  make  it  appear  that  the  breaking 
of  the  engagement  came  from  you  —  as  — 
if—  " 

"  I  see,"  said  Riatt.  There  was  a  short  silence, 
and  then  he  asked  in  a  tone  that  sounded  perfectly 
calm  to  Hickson :  "  Is  this  a  message  from  Chris- 
tine?" 

"  Oh,  no.  Not  a  message  from  Christine, 
though  she  has  been  trying  to  communicate  with 
you  for  two  days.  She  can't  see  why  you  won't 
even  answer  her  letters.  I  told  her  I  would  find 
you—" 

"  In  fact,  it  is  a  message,  or  at  least  you  are 
her  messenger?  " 

"  No,  Riatt,  at  least  not  from  her.  I  have  a 
message  for  you,  but  not  from  her." 

"  From  whom  ?  " 

"  From  Linburne.  He  has  the  greatest  ad- 
miration for  your  power,  abilities,  in  spite  of 
any  differences  you  may  have  had.  He  wants 
to  offer  you  a  position,  only  he  felt  awkward  about 
doing  it  himself  after  what  has  taken  place.  He 
asked  me  to  speak  to  you.  It 's  a  good  salary, 
only  it  means  going  to  Manchuria,  no  — " 

230 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  One  moment,"  said  Riatt.  "  These  two  mes- 
sages, are  they  in  any  way  connected?  " 

"  I  don't  understand.1' 

"  Linburne's  offer  is  not  by  any  chance  the  re- 
ward for  my  giving  Christine  a  suitable  release?  " 

Hickson  was  really  shocked.  "  How  can  you 
think  such  a  thing,  Riatt?  " 

"Where  did  you  see  Linburne?" 

Hickson  hesitated,  but  confessed  after  some 
protest  that  it  had  been  at  Christine's  house. 
"  But  you  don't  understand,  you  really  don't," 
he  said.  "  She  has  been  distracted  by  your  re- 
verses, and  not  hearing  from  you  she  has  turned 
to  me,  to  Jack  Ussher,  to  any  one  who  could 
give  her  news  and  help  you,  as  she  imagined  — " 

"  I  understand  quite  enough,"  answered  Riatt. 
"  Thank  Mr.  Linburne  for  his  kind  offer  and  say 
I  have  other  plans ;  and  tell  Christine  she  can  have 
her  absolution  for  nothing.  I  '11  give  her  a  letter 
that  will  put  her  right  with  every  one."  And 
walking  to  a  desk: 

"  My  dear  Christine,"  he  wrote.  "  As  you 
are  aware,  I  have  lost  everything  I  have  in  the 
world,  and  though  I  know,  that  to  a  spirit  like 

231 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

your  own  poverty  could  not  alter  love,  I  must 
own  that  I,  more  experienced  in  privation,  find 
that  the  situation  has  had  a  somewhat  chilling 
effect  upon  my  emotions.  In  short,  my  dear,  I 
cannot  begin  life  over  again  hampered  by  a  wife. 
Thanking  you  for  the  loyalty  with  which  you  have 
stood  by  me  in  this  crisis,  and  wishing  you  every 
happiness  in  the  future,  believe  me 

"  Sincerely  yours, 

"  R.  M.  RIATT." 


He  handed  the  note  to  Hickson.  "  I  think 
that,  taken  externally,  will  effect  a  cure,"  he  said. 
"  Good  night,  Hickson.  I  'm  dead  tired,  so  you 
won't  mind  my  going  to  bed.  Oh,  and  I  'm  off 
to-morrow,  so  I  sha'n't  see  you  again.  Good-by." 

"  Are  you  going  home?  "  Hickson  asked.  But 
Max  maintained  a  certain  vagueness  as  to  his 
plans,  which  Hickson,  having  accomplished  his 
purpose,  did  not  notice.  He  was  very  much 
pleased  with  the  results  of  his  diplomacy.  No 
one  could  say  a  word  against  Christine  now.  It 
was  n't  her  fault  if  the  engagement  was  broken. 
Riatt  was  a  noble  fellow  —  only,  the  noblest  some- 
times forgot  these  simple,  practical  details. 

232 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

The  next  day  Riatt  paid  his  bill  at  the  hotel  and 
went  away  without  leaving  an  address. 

Few  of  us  have  driven  past  rows  of  suburban 
cottages,  or  through  streets  lined  by  city  flats,  with- 
out considering  how  easy  it  would  be  to  sink  one's 
identity  and  become  part  of  a  new  unknown  life. 
Riatt  certainly  had  often  thought  of  such  a  pos- 
sibility and  now  he  put  his  plans  into  operation. 
He  took  no  great  precautions  against  discovery, 
for  he  had  no  notion  that  any  one  would  be  par- 
ticularly interested  in  knowing  his  whereabouts. 
But  he  allowed  those  at  home  to  suppose  he  was 
working  in  New  York,  as  he  suggested  to  those 
in  New  York  that  he  had  very  naturally  gone 
home. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  had  taken  a  position 

•  i  i  •'  i  • 

with  a  new  company  which  was  constructing  aero- 
planes for  the  market,  into  which  in  past  times 
he  had  put  a  little  money.  He  hired  a  small  flat 
in  Brooklyn,  on  the  top  floor,  so  that  he  had  a 
glimpse  of  the  harbor  from  his  sitting-room  win- 
dows. He  spent  the  last  of  his  ready  money  in 
buying  out  the  dilapidated  furniture  of  his  pred- 
ecessor; and  then  with  the  assistance  of  the  jani- 

233 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

tor's  wife,  who  gave  him  his  breakfast  and  did 
what  she  called  "  redding  up  the  place,"  he  began 
to  live  on  the  slim  salary  that  his  new  job  gave 
him. 

Every  afternoon  he  would  take  the  new  ma- 
chines out  and  fly  at  sunset  over  the  sandy  plains 
of  Long  Island,  would  dine  cheaply  at  some 
neighboring  restaurant,  and  would  return  to  his 
flat  about  ten,  go  to  bed  early  and  be  ready  for 
work  the  next  morning. 

The  only  relaxation  he  allowed  himself  was  the 
excitement  of  hating  Christine,  to  which  he  now 
devoted  a  great  deal  of  time  and  thought.  It 
was  the  only  thing  that  gave  life  any  interest. 

What  was  loss  of  money,  after  all,  he  said  to 
himself,  for  an  able-bodied  man?  He  could  bear 
that  well  enough,  if  his  life  had  not  been  poisoned, 
if  hope  had  n't  been  taken  from  him.  She  had 
spoilt  him  for  everything  else.  His  success,  if 
ever  he  should  succeed,  would  not  bring  him  what 
most  men  wanted  of  success  —  a  companion  and 
a  home.  He  had  nothing  to  work  for,  and  yet 
nothing  to  do  except  work.  It  was  all  his  own 
fault,  he  said;  and  blamed  her  all  the  more  bit- 

234 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

terly.  He  was  glad,  he  thought,  that  he  had 
made  it  impossible  for  her  to  have  a  final  inter- 
view with  him ;  and  in  his  heart  he  could  not  for- 
give her  for  not  having  overcome  the  obstacles 
to  a  meeting  which  he  had  set  up  in  the  last 
frenzied  days  in  New  York. 

"  If  I  were  of  a  revengeful  disposition,"  he 
said  to  himself,  "  I  should  ask  nothing  better  than 
that  she  should  marry  Linburne  " ;  and  he  con- 
cluded that  he  was  not  revengeful  because  he 
found  he  did  not  want  it.  He  made  up  his  mind 
after  the  most  prolonged  consideration  that  a 
woman  such  as  Christine  exercised  the  maximum 
influence  for  evil;  a  thoroughly  wicked  woman 
could  not  help  inspiring  distrust,  but  a  nature  like 
hers  had  enough  good  to  attach  you  and  yet  left 
you  nothing  to  depend  upon. 

He  read  the  papers,  awaiting  the  announcement 
of  her  marriage,  but  found  no  mention  of  her 
name  except  once,  toward  the  end  of  May,  a 
short  paragraph  announcing  that  she  had  gone  out 
of  town  for  the  season. 

It  was  soon  after  he  had  read  this  that  he  came 
home  earlier  than  usual  and  let  himself  into  his 

235 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

little  flat.  The  day  had  been  successful,  a  new 
device  in  the  engine  was  working  well  and  the 
company  had  had  a  large  order  from  abroad. 
And  as  usual,  with  the  prospect  of  success  had 
come  to  him  a  bitter  sense  of  the  emptiness  of 
the  future.  He  was  thinking  of  Christine,  and 
when  he  turned  the  switch  of  the  electric  light, 
there  she  was.  She  was  sitting  in  a  large  shabby 
armchair,  drawn  close  to  the  window,  so  that  she 
could  look  out  at  the  river.  She  had  taken  ->ff 
her  hat,  and  her  hair  shown  particularly  golden 
and  her  eyes  looked  brightly  blue  in  the  sudden 
glare  of  light. 

"  You  're  dreadfully  late,"  she  said,  quite  as  if 
she  had  charge  of  his  comings  and  goings.  "  I  Ve 
been  here  hours  and  hours  and  hours." 

Now  that  he  actually  saw  her  before  him,  it 
was  neither  love  nor  hate  that  he  felt,  but  an  un- 
definable  and  overmastering  emotion  that  seemed 
to  petrify  him,  so  that  he  stood  there  quite  silent 
with  his  hand  on  the  switch. 

"  Well,"  she  went  on,  "  are  n't  you  surprised  to 
see  me?  " 

He  bent  his  head. 

236     . 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Can  you  guess  why  I  have  come?  " 

He  shook  his  head. 

She  looked  a  little  distressed  at  this.  "  Then 
perhaps  I  Ve  made  a  mistake  in  coming." 

At  this  he  spoke  for  the  first  time.  "  I  should 
say  that  the  chances  were  that  you  had,"  he  said, 
and  his  tone  was  not  agreeable. 

The  edge  of  his  words  seemed  to  give  her  back 
all  her  confidence.  "  Now,  how  strange  that  you 
should  not  know  why  I  'm  here !  I  Ve  come,  of 
course,  to  return  your  pearls."  He  saw  now,  be- 
tween the  laces  of  her  summer  dress  that  she  was 
wearing  them.  "  In  common  honesty  I  could 
hardly  keep  them."  She  put  up  her  hands  to  the 
clasp,  but  it  did  not  yield  at  once  to  her  touch, 
and  she  looked  up  at  him.  "  I  think  you  '11  have 
to  undo  it  for  me,"  she  murmured,  with  bent  head. 

"  I  don't  want  them,"  he  answered,  with  tem- 
per. "  I  never  want  to  see  them  again." 

"  Nor  me,  either,  perhaps?  " 

"  Nor  you  either  —  perhaps." 

She  rose  and  approached  him.  "  I  '11  keep 
them  on  one  condition,  Max  —  that  you  take 
permanent  charge  of  both  of  us."  Then  seeing 

237 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

that  she  had  produced  no  change  in  his  expression, 
she  came  very  close  indeed.  "  There  's  no  use  in 
looking  like  a  stone  image,  Max.  It  won't  save 
you." 

"  Save  me!     And  what  is  my  danger?  " 

"  I  'm  your  danger,  my  dear." 

"  Not  any  longer,  Christine." 

"  You  mean  you  don't  love  me  any  more?  " 

"  Not  a  bit." 

At  this  she  shifted  her  ground  with  admirable 
ease. 

"  In  that  case,"  she  said  cheerfully,  "  we  can 
talk  the  whole  subject  over  quite  dispassionately." 

"  Quite,  if  there  were  anything  to  talk  over." 

"  Only  first,"  she  said,  "  are  n't  you  going  to 
ask  me  to  stay  to  dinner?  It 's  very  late,  you 
know—" 

"  I  don't  dine  here,"  he  answered,  "  and  I 
doubt  if  you  would  eat  very  much  at  the  restau- 
rant where  I  take  my  meals." 

"  Well,  would  you  mind  my  going  into  the 
kitchen  and  making  myself  a  cup  of  tea  ?  " 

He  gave  his  consent,  but  evinced  no  intention 
of  accompanying  her.  To  see  her  like  this,  in 

238 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

his  own  home,  where  he  had  so  often  imagined  her 
being  and  where  she  would  never  be  again,  was 
torture  to  him. 

After  an  interval  that  seemed  to  him  an  eternity, 
she  came  back  flushed  and  triumphant,  carrying 
a  tray  on  which  were  tea,  toast  and  scrambled 
eggs. 

"  There,"  she  said,  "  don't  you  think  I  Ve  im- 
proved? Don't  you  think  I  'm  rather  a  good 
housewife?  " 

The  element  of  pathos  in  her  self-satisfaction 
was  too  much  for  him.  "  I  'm  afraid  I  'm  not  in« 
the  mood  either  for  comedy  or  for  supper,"  he 
said. 

Her  face  fell.  "  I  thought  you  'd  be  so  hun- 
gry," she  observed  gently.  "  But  no  matter. 
Sit  down  and  we  '11  talk." 

"  I  know  of  nothing  to  talk  about,"  he  returned, 
but  he  dropped  reluctantly  into  a  hard,  stiff  chair 
opposite  her. 

"  I  '11  tell  you  what  there  is  to  talk  about," 
said  Christine.  "  Something  that  has  never  been 
mentioned  in  all  the  discussions  that  have  been 
taking  place.  And  that  is  my  feelings." 

239 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Your  feelings,"  Riatt  began,  rather  contemp- 
tuously, but  she  stopped  him. 

"  No,"  she  said,  "  you  sha'n't  say  what  you 
were  going  to.  My  feelings,  my  feelings  for  you. 
You  Ve  told  me  that  you  did  not  love  me,  that  you 
despised  me,  that  you  did  love  me,  but  you  've 
never  asked  how  I  felt  to  you." 

"  But  you  Ve  made  it  so  clear.  You  felt  that, 
in  default  of  anything  else,  I  would  do." 

She  leaned  across  the  table  and  looked  at  him 
gravely.  "  Max,"  she  said,  u  I  love  you." 

He  made  no  motion,  not  even  one  of  contempt, 
and  so  she  got  up,  and  coming  round  the  table, 
she  knelt  down  beside  him  and  put  her  arms  tightly 
about  him.  Still  he  did  not  move,  except  that  his 
hands,  which  had  been  hanging  at  his  sides,  now 
gripped  the  edges  of  the  chair  with  the  rigidity 
of  iron,  and  he  said  in  a  voice  which  sounded 
even  in  his  own  ears  like  that  of  a  total  stranger: 

"  What  folly  this  is,  Christine  1  " 

"Why  is  it  folly?" 

"  If  you  had  said  this  six  weeks  ago,  while  I 
still  had  enough  money  to  — " 

240 


"  Max,"  she  said,  "  I  love  you  " 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  If  I  had  said  it  then  you  would  n't  have  be- 
lieved me."  He  looked  at  her;  it  was  true. 

"  But  now,"  she  went  on  rapidly,  "  you  must 
believe  me.  If  I  come  now  to  live  with  you  and 
work  for  you,  no  one  can  accuse  me  of  mercenary 
motives  - —  not  even  you,  Max.  I  sha'n't  get  any- 
thing from  the  bargain  but  you,  and  that  is  all  I 


want" 


"  This  is  madness,"  said  Riatt,  trying  not  very 
sincerely  to  free  himself. 

"  Yes,  of  course  it 's  mad,  like  all  really  logical 
things,"  she  answered.  "  But  that 's  the  way  it 's 
going  to  be.  I  love  you,  and  I  am  going  to  stay 
with  you." 

u  I  could  n't  let  you,"  he  said.  "  I  could  n't 
accept  such  a  sacrifice." 

"  A  sacrifice,  Max.  That 's  the  first  really 
stupid  thing  I  ever  heard  you  say.  It  is  n't  a 
sacrifice ;  it 's  a  result,  a  consequence  of  the  fact 
that  I  love  you.  It  is  n't  a  question  of  my  doing 
it,  or  your  letting  me.  It  simply  can't  be  other- 
wise. The  other  things  I  used  to  value  —  parties 
and  pretty  clothes  and  luxuries  —  they  were  a  sort 

243 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

of  game  I  played  because  I  did  not  know  any 
other.  But  only  part  of  me  was  alive  then.  I 
was  like  a  blind  person;  and  they  were  my  stick; 
but  now  that  I  can  see,  the  stick  is  just  in  my  way. 
It  is  n't  silly  and  romantic  to  believe  in  love,  Max. 
The  hardest-headed,  most  practical  people  believe 
in  it  —  every  one  who  has  any  sense  really  believes 
in  it,  when  they  find  it.  To  be  poor,  to  be  uncom- 
fortable —  it 's  a  price,  but  a  small  one  to  pay 
for  love.  Is  n't  that  true  —  true,  at  least,  as  far 
as  you  're  concerned?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  as  far  as  I  'm  concerned  — " 

"  Then  what  right  have  you  to  think  it 's  not 
true  to  me?  Don't  be  such  a  moral  snob,  Max. 
If  love  's  the  best  thing  in  the  world  for  you,  it 's 
ever  so  much  more  so  for  me  —  I  need  it  more." 

"  Nobody  could  need  it  more  than  I  do,"  he 
answered,  suddenly  clasping  her  to  him. 

"  It 's  the  way  it 's  going  to  be,  anyhow,"  she 
murmured. 

"  I  can't  let  you  go,"  he  said,  as  if  arguing  with 
an  unseen  auditor. 

She  nodded  in  a  somewhat  contracted  space. 
"  That 's  it,"  she  announced.  "  It  has  to  be." 

244 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

It  was  only  a  few  days  later  that  Nancy  Almar, 
driving  past  a  well-known  house-furnishing  shop 
on  her  way  home  to  tea,  was  surprised  to  observe 
her  brother  standing,  with  a  salesman  at  his  elbow, 
in  trancelike  contemplation  of  a  small  white  enam- 
eled ice-box.  With  her  customary  decision,  Nancy 
ordered  her  chauffeur  to  stop,  and  entering  the 
shop  by  another  door  she  stood  close  beside  Hick- 
son  during  his  purchase  of  the  following  articles: 
the  ice-box,  an  improved  coffee  percolator  and  a 
complete  set  of  kitchen  china  of  an  extremely 
decorative  pattern. 

"  Bless  me,  Ned,"  she  said  suddenly  in  his  ear, 
"  might  one  ask  when  you  are  going  to  housekeep- 
ing, and  with  whom?  " 

There  was  no  denying  that  Ned's  start  was 
guilty,  and  his  manner  confused  as  he  answered, 
"  Oh,  they  're  not  for  me  — " 

The  salesman  who,  perhaps,  lacked  tact,  or  pos- 
sibly only  wanted  to  get  away  to  wait  on  another 
customer,  said  at  this  point: 

"And  the  address,  sir?  I  have  the  name  — 
Mrs.  Max  Riatt." 

"  Riatt  married !  "  cried  Nancy.  "  But  to 
245 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

whom?     I  thought  he  had  nothing  left  in  the 
world." 

"  He  has  n't,"  answered  Ned,  hastily  scribbling 
the  address  on  a  card  and  handing  it  to  the  man. 

"  Oh,  then  he  's  married  some  one  who  loves 
him  for  himself  alone,  I  know.  That  faithful 
sleek-headed  girl  from  his  home  town.  Won't 
Christine  be  angry  when  she  hears  it !  She  always 
likes  her  old  loves  to  pine  a  long  time  before  they 
console  themselves.  Let  us  go  and  tell  her.  Or 
is  she  away  still?  " 

A  rather  sad  smile  lit  up  Hickson's  countenance 
as  he  followed  his  sister  to  her  motor.  "  I  think 
she  knows  it,"  he  said. 

Nancy  put  her  hand  on  his  arm.  "  Oh,  dear, 
darling  Ned,"  she  said.  "  Get  in  and  drive  home 
with  me  and  tell  me  all  about  it.  I  knew  he  really 
never  cared  for  Christine.  She  dazzled  and  dis- 
tressed him  in  about  equal  proportions.  And  yet 
I  doubt  if  Miss  —  Whatever-Her-Name-Was  — 
will  be  very  exciting  — " 

"  It  is  not  Miss  Lane,  who,  by  the  way,  I  like 
and  admire  very  much,"  said  Ned,  firmly. 

"  Who  is  it?     Some  one  I  know?  " 
246 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Yes,  you  know  her." 

Something  in  his  extreme  solemnity  transferred 
the  idea  to  her. 

"  You  don't  mean  that  Christine  — " 

He  nodded.  "  I  was  at  their  wedding  yester- 
day." 

"  And  where  are  they?  " 

"  That  's  it,  Nancy.  They  're  living  in  a  flat 
and  they  have  no  servant  — " 

His  sister  leaned  back  and  laughed  heartily,  and 
then  composing  her  countenance  with  an  effort, 
she  said:  "  My  poor  dear!  But  it's  really  all 
for  the  best.  She  won't  stay  with  him  six 
months." 

"  Nancy!     She  '11  stay  with  him  forever." 

"Where  is  this  flat?" 

"  I  Ve  promised  not  to  tell.  They  don't  want 
to  be  bothered  by  all  of  us." 

"  They  want  to  conceal  their  deplorable  situa- 
tion, of  course.  Well,  my  dear,  I  can  wait.  Six 
months  from  now  I  '11  ask  them  to  dine  to  meet 
Linburne.  Christine's  dresses  will  be  a  little  out 
of  fashion,  and  they  '11  come  in  a  trolley  car,  and 
she  '11  have  a  veil  over  her  head  — " 

247 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

"  Six  months  from  now  Riatt  may  be  on  the  way 
to  making  a  nice  little  sum.  He  has  a  very  good 
thing,  he  thinks." 

"  He  'd  better  be  quick  about  it.  A  flat  in  sum- 
mer !  Oh,  the  cinders  on  the  window-sill,  and  the 
sun  on  the  roof,  and  the  knowledge  that  all  of  us 
are  going  out  of  town  to  lawns  and  lakes—* 
He  'd  better  be  quick,  Ned." 

The  motor  had  stopped  before  the  door  of 
Nancy's  little  house  which  was  arrayed  in  its  sum- 
mer dress  of  red  and  white  awnings,  and  red  and 
white  window  boxes.  The  footman  had  rung  the 
bell,  and  was  waiting  with  his  eye  on  the  front 
door,  so  as  to  catch  the  right  second  for  opening 
the  door  of  the  motor. 

"  Nancy,"  said  her  brother,  with  real  horror  in 
his  tone,  "  you  talk  as  if  you  wanted  her  to  fail." 

"  I  do.     I  do,  of  course." 

"Why?     Do  you  hate  her?" 

Nancy  nodded.  "  Yes,  I  hate  her  now.  I 
did  n't  used  to." 

"  It  seems  to  me  this  is  just  the  moment  to  ad- 
mire her.  It  may  be  foolish,  but  surely  what  she 
has  done  is  noble,  Nancy." 

248 


LADIES  MUST  LIVE 

The  hall  door  opened  and  simultaneously  the 
door  of  the  motor,  and  Nancy,  putting  out  one 
foot,  said  over  her  shoulder: 

"  Oh,  Ned,  what  a  goose  you  are !  Don't  you 
know  any  woman  would  have  done  what  she  's 
done,  if  she  had  the  chance  —  the  real  chance?  " 

She  ran  up  the  steps  and  into  her  house,  leaving 
her  brother  staring  after  her  in  amazement. 


THE   END 


249 


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JUN  2  3  ZOO? 

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